The Retold Tale of Advance Generation
by VoltTacklingPika
Summary: My version of Pokemon: Advanced Generation with lots of changes and a few twists here and there. Chapter Thirteen, part two of Jirachi: Wish Maker, is up! Rated T for minor language, profanity, scenes of violence and some dark themes.
1. The Beginning! VS Mightyena!

Hello everyone and welcome to 'The Retold Tale of Advance Generation'. What's this story about? Well, just read the title and you'll find out.

Actually, I should elaborate a little bit.

The idea for this came to me when I was browsing about the Serebii Forums. I stumbled upon a thread where you could post your own ideas on how the anime should be. Stuff like what you would change and all that jazz. There were a couple on there that were very good. So I thought, why not take a step further and actually a story based off of similar ideas?

This particular story is based off my own idea. Advance Generation was my favourite part of the anime so I decided to make a sort of novelisation of it. I say 'sort of' because it's going to be different with lots of changes.

I now come to the important part of this message. If you do not like this idea or the story in general, then please do not post a review along the lines of, "OMG tis fic sux ass!!111!" That is what is called a flame. Flames have no place here or anywhere.

If there is something you don't like or something you have a problem then tell me in a constructive way. Example: "I think this bit (insert part of the story) could be improved or change because… You can do this by…," Or something along those lines.

Right, I will finish my rambling here and let you get on with reading the chapter.

* * *

The Hoenn region is a warm and tropical country located to the south of the central mainland, otherwise known as Kanto-Johto (Kanto and Johto are the two separate regions that make up the mainland). Hoenn is practically warm all year round with the air being humid commonly. The tropical trees, beautiful beaches and oceans as blue as the sky make Hoenn a great holiday destination.

Of course, neither Ash Ketchum or anyone from his native region of Kanto ever took those factors into consideration as he stood there, sweating, in his new hooded sweatshirt and baseball cap. The first thing Ash noticed when he stepped off of that boat and into Littleroot Town was that a lot of people were walking in tank-tops, vests and shorts; what people generally wore in this sort of weather. As for Ash, he was wearing a pair of baggy light blue jeans, a blue sweatshirt with a hood and a black t-shirt underneath it. He never complained about the weather before (probably because he'd get slapped if he did) but there's always a first for everything.

"It's hot, isn't it Pikachu?" he asked the yellow rodent that was perched on his left shoulder. Its long ears were drooped slightly as it too was bothered by the heat.

"Pika…," it let out. Ash, unable to fully understand what Pikachu was saying, took it for a yes. He took off his cap and ran a gloved hand through his messy mop of raven hair.

"Come on, let's get moving," Ash said, "The longer we stay out here the hotter we'll be."

Ash began to walk up the long concrete broad walk that was the Littleroot port whilst looking at the town to the side of him. It was bigger than his hometown and looked to be very busy. He could faintly hear the sound of merchants advertising their goods and the hustle and bustle of a market square. He figured that checking it out wasn't a good idea; he didn't like shopping anyway.

His next course of action would be to find the nearest Pokémon Centre and sign up for the Hoenn League. Once he had done that, he can go out and start collecting the eight required Gym Badges, wherever they may be.

But before any of that, Ash had to figure out where the Pokémon Centre was. So, Ash took off his green back pack and rummaged through it. He eventually found a thick but small book titled: "Your Guide to the Hoenn region – Maps Included!" This book was given to him by Tracey (a friend he met in the Orange Archipelago) before his departure. Basically, it had a map of the whole region and detailed pages on the main towns and cities. It also had town maps; an incredibly useful and vital tool for someone who has no idea where they are going.

After a quick flick through the book, Ash came across the page labelled Littleroot Town and began scanning the text. It took a while since he wasn't the quickest of readers but he found the part detailing the town's services. As it turns out, Littleroot Town has no Pokémon Centre.

"What kind of town doesn't have a Pokémon Centre?" he questioned. Pikachu shrugged. Ash flicked through the book again, "Looks like the closest town with a Centre is Oldale Town, which is not too far from here."

It didn't take long for Ash to find the town exit. Littleroot Town was big, but not _that _big. Besides that, he was perfectly capable of finding his way around. Ahead of him was a dirt trail surrounded by trees and plants. As Ash was about to leave, Pikachu's ears twitched and he suddenly hopped off of his shoulder. Ash looked at his little buddy curiously and could tell it wanted him to follow it. Pikachu ran off into the forest and Ash took off after it.

A fairly quick run through the trees led the two to a small clearing. Pikachu pointed at something. Ash looked ahead of him and saw a person being cornered up against a tree by a strange dog of some sorts. Ash quickly took action after seeing the person was absolutely terrified.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he said. Pikachu complied and unleashed a huge electric charge from its body. The unsuspecting Pokemon was hit full on and received an equally as huge shock. After the attack subsided, it turned around and growled at the attackers.

Ash took this chance to find out what it was on his Pokédex, **"Poochyena: the Bite Pokémon. At first sight, Poochyena takes a bite out of anything that moves and will chase after prey until the victim becomes exhausted. However, it may turn tail if the prey strikes back."**

The Poochyena, a cute looking pup with grey fur with dabs of black here and there and a bushy tail, snarled at Pikachu as he charged in. Neither Pikachu or Ash were intimidated in the slightest, "Quick Attack!"

Pikachu charged in, leaving behind a blazing trail, and body checked the charging Bite Pokémon. With it being winded, Ash decided to wrap this little battle up, "Thunderbolt it!"

Once again, Pikachu unleashed a charge and scored a direct hit. Poochyena fled, knowing it couldn't beat Pikachu, "Good job, Pikachu!" Ash complimented.

Pikachu gave its best version of a thumbs up and walked with Ash towards the person, who was a girl that was now standing up. She was wearing a tight red blouse, blue biker shorts with a white miniskirt over the top. She had white and black gloves and a red bandana tied around her head of chestnut brown hair.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Ash smiled, "That's good," he said. He walked over and picked the girl's fallen bike. He wheeled it over to the girl and let her take it. She got on and smiled at Ash.

"Thanks for helping me out," she said. Ash put his hand behind his head in his usual modest manner.

"Ah, it was nothing," he said, "Be careful from now on."

"Sure," the girl said. She was about to ride off but she suddenly froze up. Ash was about to ask what was wrong but was suddenly tackled from behind. Ash landed on his front as he felt something pin him to the floor. He managed to look over his shoulder to see very sharp set of teeth that belonged to larger version of the Poochyena he thought earlier. He looked around and saw that about ten Poochyena had filled the clearing.

"Pikachu, get this thing off of me!" Ash called. Pikachu nodded and charged up electricity in its cheeks. The dog growled at Pikachu, as well as the other Poochyena, causing the rodent to hesitate for a second. It hesitated long enough for one of the Poochyena to tackle him. Pikachu reacted by unleashing multiple bolts of electricity and though they did not hit their targets, they caused them to back off. One of them managed to graze the bigger dog, supposedly the leader of the pack, allowing Ash to throw him off.

The large dog recovered quickly and lunged for Ash as he was trying to stand up. It sunk its fangs into Ash's thigh, causing him to yell in pain. Pikachu unleashed a Thunderbolt in an attempt to get him off. Luckily for Ash, the dog let go and was momentarily paralysed.

"We need to get out of here!" the girl yelled.

Ash quickly looked around for a possible escape route. He quickly located one, "Pikachu, use Thunder!"

Pikachu let loose an even bigger charge which was large enough to shock all the Poochyena and their leader, "Come one, this way."

The girl rode ahead of him and into the trees while Ash quickly followed, ignoring the sudden pain in his leg. After the Bite Pokémon recovered from the shock, they gave chase.

The girl was quite a distance ahead, which was understandable since she was on a bike. Ash was running as fast as he could with the pain. After what seemed like hours of running, they both ended up in another clearing. Ash practically collapsed while the girl leaned over her handle bars.

"That was a close one," she muttered.

"You said it," Ash agreed. Pikachu sat in front of Ash, concerned about his injury, "Don't worry about this Pikachu, I'm fine. You just keep an eye out for those Pokémon."

"So who are you, anyway?" the girl suddenly asked.

"Oh, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," Ash introduced.

"I'm May Maple from Petalburg City," the girl, now May, smiled.

"Why did that Poochyena attack you, May?" Ash asked. May frowned as she thought back to when the dog attacked her.

"I was riding towards Professor Birch's Laboratory in order to pick up my first Pokémon," she started, "Then I think I may have run over that little things tail. It wasn't too happy about that so it attacked me. It managed to knock me off of my bike. I thought it was like, gonna eat me or something but luckily you showed up."

"Yeah, I was just about to leave Littleroot Town until Pikachu noticed something," Ash explained, "Speaking of Poochyena; I wonder what that big thing was."

Ash brought out his Pokédex again and started flicking through its pages. He eventually found the picture of the thing that attacked him. The Pokédex whirred for a moment before it began speaking in a pre-recorded voice, **"Mightyena: the Bite Pokémon and the evolved form of Poochyena. Mightyena will give obvious signals when its preparing to attack. It starts to growl deeply and flattens its body. This Pokémon will bite savagely with its sharply pointed fangs." **

"It must be the leader of the pack, or something," May stated, "That Poochyena from earlier must have been from the same pack."

"Yeah, probably," Ash said. He stood up, ignoring the pain once again, "We should probably get moving otherwise they'll track us down. Do you mindif I come with you to Professor Birch's lab?"

"Sure, you can come," May said, "I could do with some protection from a strong trainer, just in case I get attacked again."

"We've got you covered," Ash grinned. Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. The two began walking, supposedly in the direction of Birch's lab.

It was a relatively short trip. The two walked into the large and fancy looking building and made their presence known. A rather large man with brown hair and a beard came out into the hallway.

"Ah, May, you've finally arrived!" he greeted her warmly, "And you've brought a friend!"

"I wouldn't really call him a friend," May said, "I only met him twenty minutes ago. His name is Ash."

"Well, friend or not, he looks hurt," the man said with a frown. May looked back at Ash who looked perfectly fine, other than the red stain on the thigh of his jeans.

"Ah, we ran into some trouble on the way here, Professor Birch," May said. She explained the whole fiasco with the Poochyena and the Mightyena. Birch nodded in understanding.

"Mightyena and Poochyena are very aggressive and territorial Pokémon," he explained, "That wound needs cleaning and bandaged. Luckily, Mightyena bites aren't poisonous, just very painful."

"You can say that again," Ash grunted, "Where's the bathroom?"

"On the second floor, first door to the right," Birch said. Ash thanked him and walked off with Pikachu. Birch turned to May, "You ready to choose your first Pokémon, May?"

"Um… yeah," May said, stuttering slightly, _"I'll never be ready to choose my first Pokémon…"_

Birch signalled for May to follow him into a room. It was a very spacious room with lots of fancy and shiny looking machines and gadgetry. May resisted the temptation to press the rather ambiguous red button on one of the machines and waited patiently for Professor Birch. The man had picked up a brown bag from a desk and placed it down on a table that was in the middle of the room.

Birch opened the bag and took out a ball about the size of a golf ball. One half of the ball was red while the other half was white. He pressed a white button on it and the ball enlarged itself to about the size of a baseball, possibly larger.

"Alright then," the professor said, getting May's attention, "You get to choose one of these three Pokémon. First up: the grass type Treecko."

Birch opened up the ball and a flash of white light came out. The light started to shift into a shape of a figure. The light dimmed down and revealed a green gecko, standing on two legs, with a pink belly and a long tail that was a lighter shade of green. Its yellow eyes stared at May, causing her to flinch back.

"It's creepy!" she exclaimed. Birch figured that she didn't want that one. Treecko smirked at the frightened girl as a red beam hit it. In a matter of seconds, Treecko was sort of dissolved by the beam and sucked back into the ball.

"Okay, next up is the water type: Mudkip," Birch announced as he opened another ball. A small blue creature appeared in the same white light. It stood on all fours and had a fairly round head. It had a small tail and long fin on its head. It had orange gills on both cheeks and two beady black eyes.

"I dunno, it looks mischievous to me," May said, examining the Mud Fish Pokémon. As if to prove May's point, it spat water onto her face. May shook her head to get rid of some of the water and narrowed her eyes at the snickering Pokémon, "What was that for?!"

Birch sighed and returned Mudkip to its Pokéball before May could get her hands on it. He put the ball away and took out the last one, "Lastly, we have the fire type: Torchic."

Torchic was a tiny chick pokémon with orange feathers. It had a main of yellow feather around its neck, three yellow feathers on top of its head and beady black eyes. It waddled over to May and rubbed itself up against her legs.

"This one isn't so bad," she commented. She picked it up and held it out in front of her, "It's actually really cute. It's settled then, I choose Torchic."

Torchic smiled at her as best as a chick could. May smiled back at the fire type. It must have been infectious as Birch started smiling as well.

"Then you'll need Torchic's Pokéball," he said, handing May said ball, "Take these other Pokéballs and Pokédex as well."

She put Torchic down on the table and, put the Pokéballs away in her yellow fanny pack and examined the Pokédex, "Ash used one of these things. What does it do?"

"A Pokédex is basically an electronic encyclopaedia on Pokémon; it can give you information on just about any Pokémon you point it at," Birch explained.

"Oh," May said as she pointed it at Torchic. It whirred for a moment before a picture of Torchic appeared on the screen.

"**Torchic: the Chick Pokémon. Torchic sticks with its trainer, following behind with unsteady steps. This Pokémon breathes fire of over 1,800 F, including fireballs that leave the foe scorched black."**

"This things pretty cool," May stated, checking out a couple more pages on her new Pokémon.

"Yes, it's a revolutionary device that not every trainer has," Birch explained.

Meanwhile, Ash was just finishing up in the bathroom. Luckily for him, the wound wasn't that deep though it still stung a lot when he applied the disinfectant. He triple bandaged the wound and put away the first aid kit his mother made him take. Actually, his mother made him take two, in case he lost one. In seemed a bit excessive but she was very insistent that he took both.

Fortunately, Ash had a spare pair of jeans as the other ones now had a large rip in them. Even his underwear got ripped so he had to change those too. Now that he was nice and bandaged up, he left the bathroom and went downstairs. He saw May and Professor Birch standing in the hallway, discussing something.

"If you work hard, you can one day become as good as your father, maybe even better," Birch encouraged.

"Sounds like a great dream, May," Ash said, walking up to them.

"Oh, uh… thanks Ash," May said. She then mumbled, "I'd trade Pokémon for a trip around the world any day."

"What was that, May?" Birch asked.

"Uh… I said I wouldn't trade it for the world!" May said, waving him off. Ash raised an eyebrow at May's strange behaviour yet thought nothing of it.

"Excellent," Birch smiled, "I suggest that you register for the Hoenn League at the nearest Pokémon Centre, which is in Oldale Town."

"Yeah, sure," the girl muttered.

"And you, Ash?" Birch asked, turning his attention to the teen.

"I'm going to Oldale Town as well," Ash said, "I came to this region for the Hoenn League."

"It takes at least half a day to get to Oldale Town so you two should get going," Birch informed.

"Alright, see you later," May said, walking towards the main entrance. Ash followed after saying his own goodbye. May was about to open the door until someone came barging through them, knocking May over in the process. Luckily, Ash was there to prevent her from falling to the tiled floor. May quickly stood up, looking to give whoever knocked her over a piece of her mind.

The man that just came in looked to work in the lab, judging by the white lab coat. He had green hair, glasses, and wore jeans and a yellow sweater. He was panting as he spoke to Professor Birch.

"Sir… we have… a problem," he manage to get out. He took a few deep breaths before speaking again, "A pack of Poochyena, led by a Mightyena, is waiting outside and they look really hostile. They're even attacking the other Pokémon that live around here."

"They managed to track us down?!" Ash said, absolutely shocked. Birch's face had gone from carefree and friendly to serious in a matter of seconds.

"Mightyena are excellent trackers with their naturally strong sense of smell," Birch said, "They're also very persistent and don't take losing too well. They must have tracked you down in order to get revenge."

"It must have smelt Ash's blood…," May said in realisation, remembering that the boy was bitten. She was scared of a bunch of Pokémon who were ready to tear them apart limb by limb, "What do we do?"

"We fight them off," Birch answered, "They're smart enough to realise when they can't win."

"Alright then, let's go," Ash said, walking out the door. Waiting for them outside was the same Mightyena from before, with the Poochyena lined up behind it. It growled and showed off its fangs, still stained a little red from when it bit Ash. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and stood battle ready in front of him, sparks flying from its red cheeks. Mightyena moved forward and flattened out its body, ready to attack.

The Poochyena suddenly formed a ring around the two Pokémon and Ash. The teen looked around in confusion but then figured out it was to be battle between Pikachu and Mightyena.

May, Prof Birch and the man earlier were standing a couple of metres behind the ring of Bite Pokémon, "What are they doing?" May asked, confused.

"It is part of their culture," Birch explained, "Poochyena and Mightyena do this when they fight amongst themselves. It's to ensure that no one interferes with their fights. They are very proud when it comes to battling and do not like receiving help from someone or something else in any way, shape or form."

"Oh…"

In the circle, Mightyena charged quickly at Pikachu, growling all the way. Ash knew that if he wasn't careful, he could end taking a few hits here because of the enclosed space.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered. Pikachu sped off to meet Mightyena head on. The two collided but Mightyena, being physically stronger, knocked Pikachu away. Pikachu landed near one of Poochyena and it took a snap at him. Pikachu jumped out of the way but ended up taking the full force of a Take Down attack.

"That's so unfair!" May exclaimed, "Doesn't that count as helping? Why isn't that Mightyena unhappy about that?"

"Despite preferring to battle on their own, these Pokémon are very skilled in teamwork and working with one another. If they share a common enemy, then they don't care if it's one on one or eleven on one," Birch responded, "Basically, Poochyena and Mightyena like to fight alone. If they live in packs, however, they will use their numbers to their advantage."

Pikachu struggled to its feet. Ash looked worried for a second but remained determined, "Hit'em with Thunderbolt!"

The rodent unleashed the powerful electric attack but Mightyena was quick enough to avoid it. Mightyena charged in with is mouth wide open for a Bite attack.

"Use Agility to dodge," Ash countered. Pikachu started running around at high speeds, moving so fast that it could hardly be seen, "Now use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu zoomed and body checked Mightyena with added momentum thanks to Agility. Mightyena stumbled but quickly regained its footing. It wasted no time in charging in again and hitting Pikachu with a Take Down. It quickly followed up with a Bite attack.

"That Mightyena is strong…," Ash said to himself. He quickly formulated a plan, "Pikachu, use Thunder on the ground!"

Pikachu called upon the powerful electric attack and blasted into the ground in between it and Mightyena. The attack managed to create cracks in the ground and send rocks flying in numerous directions. The rocks hit Mightyena and some of the Poochyena.

"Now follow it up with Thunderbolt!" Ash called. Pikachu let loose the bolts and they hit the defenceless Mightyena. The Bite Pokémon roared in pain and collapsed to the ground, frazzled by the attack. Everyone stood in anticipation, waiting to see if Mightyena would get back up.

Mightyena attempted to get up but failed. It tried again with all the strength it could muster and succeeded. Remarkably, it ran in with Take Down and hit Pikachu, sending the electric type through the air and into May's bike that was leant up against the wall of the laboratory.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed in worry. Pikachu managed to get up and let loose a Thunderbolt in response to the attack. Unfortunately, May's bike got caught in the charge and was quickly reduced to a frame of barbequed metal, much to her horror.

The attack didn't hit its mark but the Mightyena had already toppled in over in exhaustion. The Poochyena surrounded its fallen leader in order to protect it. Ash went to Pikachu in order to nurse it while May examined the remains of her bike.

Birch approached the protective dark-types. They growled at the Professor who put his arms up in front of him in response, "I'm not here to hurt you, but to help you."

The Pokémon cocked their heads in confusion as Birch kneeled down in front of Mightyena and softly stroked its black and grey fur. The Poochyena growled again but Birch paid them no heed. He turned to the green haired man, "Joshua, go get some potions."

"Right away," Joshua complied. He ran inside, picked out a couple of bottle from a cupboard and ran back out. He handed to Birch who sprayed the potion on the Bite Pokémon. The dark type hissed in pain for a moment before barking in content. It got up to its feet, barked to the Poochyena, and ran off into the forest. The Poochyena followed suit.

May stood up and sighed sadly at the mess in front of her. She saw Ash walk towards her with Pikachu on his shoulder and turned to face him with her hands on her hips, "Look what your Pikachu did, mister!"

Ash looked at her, surprised at her outburst, and then at the mess in front of her. He visually paled and sighed, "Wow, déja vu…"

"Pikachu…," Pikachu added. Both it Ash scratched the back of their head nervously.

"Um… we're really sorry, May," Ash apologised. May huffed and turned away from them. Ash sighed, as did Pikachu, "Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?"

"Hmm… I don't know," she said thoughtfully, "Maybe you could be my protection."

"Huh?" Ash was confused.

"Well, now that I've seen how some Pokémon act I can't help but fear for my own safety, especially now that it will take longer to get around" May said, "However, now that I've seen what a strong trainer you are, I figured that you could be my protection."

"…Okay, I guess I could do that," Ash said, unaware of the triumphant grin on May's face. Who knew flattery could work so well when convincing someone.

"But if you do a lousy job, there will be hell to pay, you got that?!" May turned around and glared at him, holding out a fist for good measure. Ash backed away slowly and nervously.

"I got it," he promised.

"Good, let's get going then, shall we?" May said, suddenly smiling widely. She grabbed Ash's arm and started to drag him away.

"You two, be careful now!" Birch called out to them, realising that the two were now leaving

"Don't worry, we will!" May called back. Ash struggled to break free of May's grip on his arm but she just gripped harder for whatever reason.

Ash sighed, "_This is going to be an interesting trip."_

"I can't help but think that those two are going to have some crazy adventures," Birch said to himself. He turned to Joshua, "Come on, it's time for dinner!"

Joshua sighed, knowing that the Professor always had _incredibly large _meals. He was going to do a lot of cleaning tonight that was for certain.

* * *

And that ends the first chapter. Tell me what you think, taking into account what I said earlier. Expect the next chapter in a couple of days, hopefully.


	2. Ozone and Magma! Clash in Oldale Town!

Here is chapter two and thank you to those who reviewed!

I received one review that asked a lot of questions. I will answer some without giving away too many details.

How will the fic be organized? I'll be honest and say that I haven't given it much thought and I'm more focused on getting this story up and running. I'll keep you posted.

Will anyone else be joining Ash and May, and why? I can't answer this without giving away spoilers. I will say, however, that certain characters won't appear and some won't appear until much later.

What Pokémon will they end up with? That's a surprise.

Rivals? I'm thinking about a major rival for Ash. Chances are that Drew and Harley will appear since they are vital towards May's character development. The relationship between them, however, may not be the same.

Team's Aqua and Magma will be appearing in this story. You'll find out to what extent in this chapter. I'm still undecided on Team Rocket.

I will be keeping all these questions in mind as they will be a big help in the planning of this.

Now, onwards to Chapter Two!

* * *

It was around early afternoon as the sun shone brightly through the thin covering of leaves and branches on Route 101. Ash and May had been travelling for an hour or so. Actually, it was more like May was travelling and Ash was being dragged since she had, for whatever reason, not released his arm. Because of this, they were travelling at a slower pace than what Ash was accustomed too.

Neither of them made any effort to start a conversation, the main reason being out of awkwardness. Ash wasn't a shy person, far from it actually, but he couldn't bring himself to actually say anything.

May was too busy looking out for any 'potential threats', as she liked to call them. The incident with the Poochyena and Mightyena had rattled her. Now she was getting edgy; jumping at the slightest noise.

Needless to say, this was irking Ash because whenever she did jump, she unconsciously tightened her grip on Ash's arm, which cut of the blood circulation and therefore made the limb numb.

"Um, May?" Ash said, trying to get the attention of the brunette. She looked at him with an inquiring look.

"What is it, Ash?"

"Could you let go of my arm?" Ash asked in a hopeful tone. May looked at her hands that were had tight hold on the boy's arm and hastily let go.

"Sorry…" she said embarrassedly. Ash shook his arm to get the blood moving again and put both of his hands behind his head.

"You know, nothing is going to just jump out and attack you," Ash stated.

"Really? I'm not so sure," May said, still looking around. Ash sighed.

"Unless you provoke them, or something, they won't," he said confidently, "So stop acting so jumpy."

"I'm not jumpy!" May insisted. Ash looked at Pikachu, who was perched on his left shoulder, and nodded. Pikachu suddenly hopped onto May's shoulder, causing the girl to yelp loudly in surprise. When she saw it was only Pikachu she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not jumpy, eh?" Ash chortled. Pikachu hopped back on Ash's shoulder and laughed as well.

"It's not funny!" May yelled. Ash and Pikachu stopped laughing, "How do you know something isn't going to just jump out and attack us? That Poochyena did!"

"I thought you ran over that Poochyena's tail?" Ash said.

"Oh yeah, I did…"

"Then stop worrying," Ash sighed again, "Wild Pokémon don't just jump out and attack people for no apparent reason."

"Then what about that?!" May said frantically, pointing behind Ash. The teen whirled around and came, literally, face to face with an unidentifiable flying object. The UFO bounced off of Ash's face with a lot of force, causing the Kanto native to stumble over. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and stood in a battle stance. Ash stood up and saw what 'attacked' him.

It looked two blue balloons connected by a zigzag of black string. The top 'balloon' was perched atop the other one. It had two small feet, ears and a tail. It also had two white marks on its cheeks and small black eyes.

"Aw, it's so cute!" May cooed.

"It packs a wallop as well," Ash grumbled, rubbing his face.

"I wonder what it is," May said as she pulled out her new Pokédex. She opened it and pointed it at the Pokémon.

"**Azurill: the Polka Dot Pokémon. Azurill spins its tail as if it were a lasso then hurls it far. The momentum of the throw sends its body flying, too. Using this unique action, one of these Pokémon managed to hurl itself 33 feet."**

"That explains why it crashed into you," May said to Ash who only grumbled in response. She rummaged through her fanny pack and pulled out an empty Pokéball, "You know what? I think I'll catch it!"

She enlarged the ball and threw it at Azurill. Ash made a move to stop her but he was too late. Azurill noticed the incoming danger and spat a small torrent of water from its mouth. The water stream hit the ball and sent it back towards the two humans, or more specifically, May's face. Ash reacted quick enough to catch the ball before it hit her.

"You've got to weaken a Pokémon in battle before attempting to catch it," Ash explained, "If you don't, things like this will happen."

"Right, I knew that," May said, sweat-dropping. Ash sighed, yet again, and handed the ball back to her, "Nice catch, by the way."

"Being hit by a Pokéball hurts," Ash said simply before turning his attention to the Azurill. The Polka Dot Pokémon was feeling threatened and started to hop away on its large balloon like tail, "It's getting away!"

May threw out Torchic's ball and the Chick Pokémon appeared, hopping up and down. It was excited about the fact its trainer had called it out, "Stop that thing with… Peck!" May called out unsurely. Torchic looked around for a while before finally spotting the fleeing normal-type. It charged at it as fast as its little legs could go.

Unfortunately for Torchic, Azurill had just so happened to hop over a conveniently placed rock. The Chick Pokémon collided with the rock's hard surface. Azurill kept bouncing away while Torchic was getting back up.

The hyperactive fire type continued its pursuit of the normal type but it didn't have the speed to catch up to it. This time, Azurill led Torchic into a tree before hopping off once more.

"Ah, Torchic!" May exclaimed as she ran over to the downed Pokémon. Torchic managed to stand up again and, yet again, chased after Azurill.

"Maybe you should try a different attack," Ash suggested, noting that this current method wasn't going to work.

"Um… let's see," May pondered, "What were those attacks again?"

Ash and Pikachu face palmed. Azurill hopped into a bush and Torchic unexpectedly opened its beak and let loose a barrage of small red balls, otherwise known as Ember. The attack hit its mark, much to Torchic's pleasure as it happily started to celebrate.

May ran over to Torchic and hugged it, "Good job!" she praised, making Torchic even giddier. Ash looked over at the bush and saw a charred looking Azurill, along with a Marill and Azumarill. The Marill was larger than the Azurill. It had a smaller tail but a bigger and rounder body with a white belly, hands and bigger ears. The Azumarill was larger than the Marill, with a longer tail and longer ears. It had a white bubble pattern on its front.

The three Pokémon glared at an unsuspecting Torchic that was dancing away. May was giggling at her Pokémon's antics. The three Pokémon then took a deep breath each and shot out a torrent of water from their mouths. The triple Water Gun attack hit Torchic, causing it to fly into a tree. The super-effective attack instantly knocked the poor Pokémon out.

Ash saw that the three Pokémon weren't done there so he intercepted them, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu aimed the attack just in front of the Pokémon, scaring the three Pokémon as they ran away and dived into a pond, judging by the splashing sound.

Ash and Pikachu wandered over to May who had the knocked out Torchic in her arms. She had a deeply concerned look on her face.

"I feel awful about this," she said, "I should've been paying attention to the Azurill. What do I do about this?"

"It's okay to make mistakes," Ash said, "We should get Torchic to a Pokémon Centre, where it can get its health restored right away."

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" May said, suddenly rushing off. Ash and Pikachu quickly followed her.

The supposed half a day it takes to get to Oldale Town ended up being about one or two hours at the pace Ash and May were going. It was the amazing that the two could keep up the pace for that long but it could have been just adrenaline.

Oldale Town was smaller than Littleroot Town and lived up to its name of being old as every building and pathway looked aged. The majority of the buildings were made out of wood and hay with the odd concrete one dotted around. The pathways were made of cobble stone, giving Oldale Town a sort of historic and nice touch.

Ash and May ignored the interesting looking ruins that were atop a hill and kept on running down a pathway. They eventually came across a large and modern looking building with a large red 'P' on the side. They ran through the automated doors and stopped to catch their breath. Once they had done that, they walked up to the counter where a young looking woman stood behind. She had red hair that was tied into two loops, a pink dress with a white apron over it and white nurse cap. She had a warm smile as she greeted the two tired travellers.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked kindly. May walked up to the counter and held out Torchic's Pokéball.

"Nurse Joy, could you take a look at my Torchic?" May asked.

"Sure," Joy said, taking the ball from May and placing it in a complex looking machine. A couple of minutes later, Joy said, "Torchic will be fine in a couple of hours."

"That's a relief," May sighed.

"See May? Nothing to worry about," Ash smiled.

"Yeah," May agreed, "Hey, I've never been in a Pokémon Centre before. Do you think you could show me around?"

"Sure, why not?" Ash said.

The first stop was the Trainer's Lounge, a place where trainers can sit and rest. Trainers can also find out information on specific things here, mainly Pokémon and battles. May asked Ash if people knew where the best shops and malls were, to which Ash replied that they only really talk about stuff to do with Pokémon but might know something.

The next stop was the bedroom. Ash explained that trainers sometimes need to stay overnight so they sleep in cosy looking rooms. May thought the rooms weren't that bad.

The last stop was May's favourite; the cafeteria. She was delighted to find out that the first meal was always free and wasted no time in ordering the day's special; a curry with some bread on the side. Ash was starving as well so he ordered the same thing.

"This place is like a home away from home," May commented, happily digging into her meal.

"Yeah, but the difference is that you can't stay here forever," Ash said, digging into his own meal. Sat next to him was Pikachu who was licking at a bottle of ketchup; it's favourite snack.

"How come?"

"Pokémon Centres can get really busy so they need the room," Ash explained, "So once you're done in a centre you're expected to leave."

"I guess that makes sense," May said. She quickly finished her meal, "I think I might look around town, wanna come with?"

"Sure," the teen replied, "I've just got to register for the Hoenn League first."

"That won't take long, will it?" the brunette asked.

"It shouldn't," the raven head claimed as he stood up. He picked up his tray and placed it on the cafeteria counter where it could be cleaned. Pikachu hopped onto his usual perch and Ash walked over to the main reception. He approached Nurse Joy, "Nurse Joy, could I register for the Hoenn League?"

"Sure thing," Joy smiled (she's always smiling), "I just need your Pokédex."

Ash pulled out the device and handed it over to Nurse Joy. She slotted into a machine and began to type something. On an overhead wide-screen appeared Ash's profile page, including a picture of him, his Pokémon and several of his badges. Chunks of text flashed on and off the screen for a while before the whole page disappeared. Nurse Joy handed Ash his Pokédex back.

"You're all set," she said. Ash thanked her and walked over to May, who was waiting by the Pokémon Centre doors.

"Ready to go?" May asked him. Ash nodded and the two left the centre.

"You two should be careful; they say there are suspicious looking people wandering around town!" Nurse Joy called out to them.

"We'll keep that in mind!"

The two looked around the assortment of buildings, wandering where to go first. Ash took out the guide book and flicked to the page on Oldale Town.

"It says here that Oldale Town has no attractions other than the ruins on top of that hill," Ash said, pointing the hill that a little ways to the right, "Other than that, there're only houses and a Pokémon Centre in this town."

"Well that sucks," May said simply, "I thought this place would at least have some shops or something."

"We could always look at the ruins," Ash suggested, shrugging his shoulders. May sighed.

"There's nothing better to do, but a bunch of old rocks doesn't sound very exciting," she said. The pair made their way to the ruins. When they arrived, they immediately spotted something out of place.

"Why is there a helicopter here?" Ash asked. True to his word, a large black whirly-bird was parked in the middle of the ruins. On the side of it was a red symbol that looked vaguely like an 'M'.

"There's another one over there," May said, pointing in the direction of another helicopter. This one was blue with a green 'O' on the side, "Something's going on here."

"I wonder what's going on," Ash said, his curiosity getting the better of him as he ran over to the helicopters. May, just as curious, went to examine them as well. She noticed an entrance to a chamber in between the two and walked over to it. She could hear voice from below.

"Sir, there's nothing here," a deep voice said.

"Yes, I can see that," another voice, a younger sounding one, snapped.

"Should we pull back?" a different voice, a female, asked.

"No, let's stay here a little longer," the younger one said, "I'm having this strange feeling…"

"Hey May, what're you looking at?" Ash asked, walking over.

"There're people down there," May said, pointing into the chamber. Ash looked down there and saw nothing but darkness. He looked over at May confusingly.

"I don't see anything," he said.

May shook her head, "They were talking. I'm going to go see."

May walked in through the entrance and down the stairs. Ash followed her quietly, making sure to keep a hand on the wall in case he got lost. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in a dimly lit chamber with a pool of water. The stone was a blue-green colour and sparkled slightly. The air in the chamber was remarkably cool and fresh.

"What're you kids doing down here?" a deep voice asked. Ash and May looked towards the source and saw a large man of about seven feet leer down at them. He was completely bald and his head stuck out like a light bulb in the dimly lit room. He wore dust coloured cargo trousers that were tucked into a pair of black boots. He wore a green shirt with an intricate gold pattern going from one shoulder to the bottom of the shirt. Around his neck was a short green scarf.

Ash and May stepped back a bit, intimidated by the man's size. Feeling brave, May answered him, "We-we came down here to… look at the ruins."

"Yeah, we're tourists," Ash chipped in, grinning nervously. The man eyed them suspiciously before calling out to someone.

"Sir, we have a couple of kids here. What do we do with them?"

"Kids?" someone questioned. He looked no older than Ash and was about three inches taller. He had messy blond hair with two large bangs going down the side of his face down to his chin. He wore the same clothes as the man, accept his scarf was longer; it was down to his waist. His emerald eyes eyed the two for a while. He unexpectedly smiled a friendly smile and asked them, "You haven't seen any guys dressed in red around here have you?"

"Guys in red? I don't think we've seen anyone like that, sorry" Ash answered, feeling more comfortable around the younger boy. Said boy sighed.

"Its fine," he said, "We're a little busy down here, so try not to interrupt us, please."

"Sir," a woman said. She had a pretty face and over shaped glasses. Her long red hair was tied into a bun on top of her head. The only difference in her uniform was that her scarf was worn like a tie and she wore a white lab coat over her clothes, "I don't think those buffoons in red are here."

"Who are you calling 'buffoons'?" yet another person questioned. Everyone turned around to see three men in red and back uniforms blocking the entrance. The man who just spoke stepped forward, "You are the buffoons for falling into our trap."

"A trap, you say?" the young boy stepped forward, "That would explain the lack of Magma grunts around here. So where have Team Magma really gone?"

"Unfortunately, Team Ozone, that info in classified," the man smirked, "Now, will you come with us quietly or do we have to destroy the whole of this pathetic town first?"

Ash and May gasped at the threat. The three people in green, now known as Team Ozone, didn't seem fazed.

"Your bluff is obvious," the woman said, "Blowing up an entire town would not only alert the authorities, but Team Aqua as well. Team Magma can't afford to have all that attention now, can they?"

"Oh, you think we are bluffing?" the man laughed. Team Ozone didn't reply but the giant man started to crack his knuckles.

"I say we just beat the living crap out of them and be done with it," he started to loosen his neck and made some threatening gestures. The young boy held his arm out in front of him.

"Calm down," he said. He then made a gesture with his other hand behind his back that only his team mates noticed "We'll come quietly."

"Good choice," the man chuckled. He pointed to the two men behind him, "Tie them up and take their Pokéballs!"

"Yes, sir!" they both saluted and carried out the task that was set for them.

"Whoa, talk about drama," commented May. She and Ash were standing quietly in the background, viewing the spectacle before them.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. He watched as Team Ozone were restrained by ropes and forced to walk out of the chamber, "Let's follow them."

The two travellers silently tiptoed up the stairs and quickly hid behind a large slab of rock. They saw that Team Ozone was standing right in front of them and Team Magma was preparing their helicopter.

"Wow, this is exciting," May said in a hushed tone. Ash silenced her. They didn't want to draw any attention themselves.

The head member of the Magma trio had just finished talking on a walkie-talkie, "It looks like Tabitha has done his job," he turned to Team Ozone, "It's time to go back to HQ. Boss will be very pleased with this catch."

"Sir, the transport will be ready in a few minutes," one of the grunts said, saluting. The leader nodded and walked off.

"Hey, you who is hiding behind the rock," the blond said in a whisper. Ash and May looked up, knowing full well that he was referring to them, "We need your help."

"Who are you?" Ash asked, not willing to help these guys straight away.

"That's not important right now," the blond answered, "We don't wish to harm you or anyone in this town."

"What do you need us to do?" May asked.

"I need one of you to distract those guys long enough for the other one to set us free," the blond instructed.

Ash and May looked at each other and silently agreed to the request.

"I'll distract them," Ash said, "Pikachu can help me out."

"Right, be careful," May said, moving aside so Ash could crawl through. The teen and Pikachu silently walked away from their cover to a safe distance away from May and Team Ozone.

The blond spoke again, "In a pouch on my trouser leg is a knife. Use it to cut the ropes when they are distracted."

May nodded to herself and waited for Ash to do his job.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash called loudly. The Magma trio looked over at the source and were shocked with the attack.

"Get that kid!" the leader ordered, shaking off the momentary paralysis. The two grunts chased after Ash who ran down the side of the hill. The leader took over the preparations in the helicopter.

May took this chance to lean over the rock and locate the pouch the blond was talking about. It was a bit difficult since he was in the middle but she managed open the pouch and carefully pull out the knife.

The knife was a simple two and a half inch blade that was slightly curved. She held it uneasily, having never held a weapon before and not knowing what it has been used for didn't help either. Despite that, she started to hastily cut the ropes, making sure she didn't accidentally cut one of them in the process. It took about a whole minute worth of effort to finally cut the thick binds.

Team Ozone silently threw the ropes to one side. The blond turned to May and took back the knife. He quickly thanked her, nodded to the woman and man and ran over to their helicopter. They were in and out in a mater of seconds, each of them holding one Pokéball. The giant tossed his ball out and a large grey bird with red wings and a long beak appeared. It shined in the afternoon soon and cried shrill a cry. Curious, May took out her Pokédex and pointed it at the bird.

"**Skarmory: the Armour Bird Pokémon. Skarmory is entirely encased in hard and protective armour. This Pokémon flies** **at close to 190 MPH. It slashes foes with its wings that possess sword-like cutting edges." **

"Skarmory, use Steel Wing!" the man commanded. Skarmory's wings glowed white as it flew towards the helicopter at incredible speeds. The man in the air craft quickly dived out of it as the Armour Bird's wings sliced it in half like a knife through butter.

"Go, Houndoom!" the man called out his own Pokémon; a black dog like creature with silver horns and a small skull on the centre of its collar bone. It roared loudly, "Use Flamethrower!"

Houndoom breathed an intense jet of orange flames towards Skarmory. The flying-steel type manoeuvred out of the way.

May looked up Houndoom on the Pokédex, **"Houndoom: the Dark Pokémon. In a Houndoom pack, the one with its horns raked sharply towards the back assumes the leadership role. These Pokémon choose their leader by fighting amongst them selves." **

"Skarmory, use Aerial Ace!" the man ordered. Skarmory dive bombed Houndoom, surrounded by a white aura. Houndoom had no time to counter as the attack was too fast. Skarmory's sharp beak rammed into the Dark Pokémon, knocking it back.

"Whoa, that's fast…," May marvelled at the sight. She was brought out her thoughts by Ash tapping her on the shoulder.

"Hey, we should get out here," he advised. May reluctantly stood up when the two grunts that were chasing Ash appeared next to their boss.

"Sir, that brat got the police on us!" one of them exclaimed.

"He did what?!" the leader yelled. He looked to the destroyed helicopter; their only way out, "We're screwed…"

Team Ozone smirked at their predicament and hopped into their helicopter. The giant recalled his Skarmory as they flew away.

The leader of the Magma trio was having a fit and literally screaming at the two grunts. Ash and May quickly ran away so as to not feel their wrath. They could vaguely here the sound of police sirens as they re-entered town.

"Well that was fun!" May said happily, "If not a little scary…"

"They both look like trouble to me," Ash said. He then yawned loudly, "I don't know about you, but I'm a little tired after that."

Ash and May entered the Pokémon Centre and saw a police officer, a woman with green hair and a blue uniform, was taking with Nurse Joy. The police officer turned around and walked over to Ash.

"What's the situation?" she asked him.

"The guys in green, I can't remember who they were, escaped but the Magma guys are stranded there," Ash reported.

"Thank you for informing us of this," she thanked him before leaving the centre.

"You both look tired, would you like a room?" Joy asked them.

"Yes please, I was about to ask," Ash said.

Nurse Joy handed him a room key. The two went to their turn in after a day full of excitement.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Team Ozone helicopter had landed in a clearing a few hundred miles north of Oldale Town. The three members were sitting around a camp fire, silently looking up at the stars in the night sky.

The giant man was lazily lying on his side as he munched on a bag of peanuts. He yawned loudly, loud enough for it echo throughout the forest they were camping in, "Explain to me again why we are camping out here?"

The woman adjusted her glasses and looked up from the laptop she was typing away on. She looked over at the giant with an annoyed look, "You know perfectly well that Magma and Aqua send out scouts during the night. If we get caught it's all over for us."

"I know that!" the man insisted, "But wouldn't a fancy hotel be much better?"

The woman sighed in annoyance, "We're not exactly loaded, Kyoku!"

"That's because the guys at the office don't pay us," Kyoku said, a bit angrily, "You're the genius, Rouge; why don't we get paid?"

Rouge sighed, "I don't know. But we really don't need to get paid."

Kyoku snorted, "Why not? We are working for them and should be rewarded. What do you think, Joaquin?"

Joaquin, the blond boy, was simply gazing up at the stars. He didn't answer Kyoku and looked distant. Kyoku snapped his fingers in front of his face, "Hello, anyone there?"

"Stop it Kyoku, you know how he gets," Rouge scolded, "So what's up, Joaquin?"

Joaquin slowly faced her, "I'm just thinking…"

"About…," Kyoku urged.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with," the blond said as he stood up, "I'm going for a walk."

Kyoku rolled his eyes, "That kid has such an attitude problem."

"Shut up and eat your peanuts, I'm trying to work here!" Rouge snapped, "Besides, Joaquin won't be too pleased if he heard you say that."

"Yeah, he can get pretty nasty if he has to," Kyoku agreed. He popped a nut into his mouth and spat it back out in disgust, "Almost as nasty as a nut with too much salt."

* * *

And we're done for now. Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions and most of all, review!


	3. Mock Gym Battle! Dealings in the Forest!

Chapter three is here at long last after a long two day wait…

Again, thank you to those who reviewed. Now, it's time to answer a couple more questions:

Will there be any reference to the Pokémon Ranger series? I've never played Pokémon Ranger and the only things I know about them are from the episodes. Right now though, a Pokémon Ranger is not important however, one may appear later on, depending on where this fic goes. But right now, a ranger is not in my current thought process.

Will Hoenn Elite Four and Champion be referenced, and more so than in canon? The Elite Four and both Champions will have appearances both individually and collectively as a whole group at certain points. So there you guy, a nice future spoiler for you. Their purpose? I'm not saying.

Now on with the chapter.

* * *

Petalburg City is on of the biggest urban areas in the whole of the Hoenn region. It's a city surrounded by steep cliffs and hills. A perfect blend of buildings and nature; Petalburg City is one of the more popular destinations in the southern tropical region.

It also happens to be the home of one May Maple. The ten year old brunette is excited about returning home and seeing her family, if only for a day, having spent nearly three days away from them. She hasn't been away for the longest period of time but it's always nice to visit them and make the most of the time they have left together before she sets out on her long journey.

Ash had told her that in the last two or three years, he had only stayed at home for an approximate collective total of three weeks; that's around a week before setting off again on a year long trip. May had never thought about the prospect of being away from her loved ones for that long. Before she left, the only thought on her mind was travelling the world. She didn't even pack any spare clothes or food or anything vital like that. Luckily, this little visit gave her the chance to do so.

Speaking of the Kanto native, Ash was very excited about his first Gym Battle in the Hoenn region. It's moments like these that fill him full with energy; enough energy to make race to the next town and leave May in his dust. Unfortunately for May, the route between Oldale Town and Petalburg City happened to be quite dusty.

Currently, Ash was standing atop a hill that overlooked the entire city. The city was so big yet he could see every individual building from his view point.

"Our first Gym battle in the Hoenn regions is right down there," Ash told Pikachu, "Are you as excited as I am, Pikachu?"

"Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu said happily. Ash grinned and set himself to run down the trail that leads into the city.

"Hey Ash, wait up!" May called out. She stumbled over to Ash and looked exhausted. The lover half of her legs also happened to look a bit dirty. When she caught up, she put her hands on her hips and huffed, "It's not very nice to leave someone behind like that."

"But my first battle is waiting for me!" Ash insisted.

"That doesn't change the fact that it wasn't very nice!" May argued, "I could've been attacked, or something."

"You've got Torchic to protect you," Ash pointed out.

"It still wasn't very nice."

"Alright, alright, we're sorry," Ash sighed.

"Pika…"

"I don't think sorry is going to cut it," May huffed, again, and walked down the trail. Ash scratched his head in confusion, "You'll have to think of some other way to make it up to me."

"Like what?" Ash asked himself.

"Pika-chu, Pikapi," Pikachu said, pointing towards the city.

"Yeah, let's go!" Ash called, energized once more as his briskly walked down the trail, making sure to keep a safe distance behind an exasperated May.

A city looks big when you look at it from the outside but it's even bigger once you are in one. Ash was still following May and had no idea where he was. Since he wasn't very skilled with maps, he couldn't pinpoint his location on the map in his handy guide book. So he decided to follow the brunette, who hadn't said anything since the little spat up on the hill, and hoped to pass by the Gym. He couldn't really think of other places she could go, unless she wanted to just walk around town.

"She must've been serious back then," Ash muttered.

"Pika."

"You think I should apologize…again?" Ash asked his best friend. Pikachu just shrugged. He wasn't one to understand the trivial matters between humans. All he did was sit on its trainer's shoulder all day, battle Pokémon far bigger than himself and constantly reuse the same electric attack over and over again until Ash thinks up another variant.

Usually, a Gym Battle always came first with Ash but, for some reason, making it up to May seemed to be more important. Maybe it was because May was a new friend, if not a potential friend, and he generally didn't want her to hate him. There was also the fact that Pikachu had destroyed her bike and he was, technically, still working off that debt. It was like May was the loan shark and Ash was the person who couldn't pay her back, only in this case Ash does want to pay her back.

However, Ash's chance to do that will have to come later as he had lost May in the big crowd of people that you usually see in a city. Ash tried looking the head of the people but it was no use. The raven head sighed and took out his guide book again, flicked to the map of Petalburg City and located the Gym that was conveniently marked with a large white 'G'.

Getting there, however, would be a bit of a challenge because of the following reasons. Firstly, Ash had no idea where he was and second, the Gym was on the other side town and there was no direct route.

"Hey there, you look a little lost," said an elderly voice. Ash looked up to see an old man smiling at him. Ash returned the smile.

"Yeah, I have no idea where I am," he admitted, signalling to the map.

"Let me see," the old man said, taking the book from the teen. In a matter of seconds, he pulled a pen from his pocket and marked their current position on the map. He handed the book back to Ash, "If you ever got lost or don't know where you are going, you should look for the city's landmarks that are marked on the map."

"Thanks, I'll keep that mind," Ash smiled, "I'll be on my way."

"Sure, try not to get lost again," the old man chortled as he walked off. Ash stared after him briefly before setting off in what he hoped to be the general directions of the Gym.

The Kanto native weaved in out of people as he wandered through many streets. He stopped briefly to check where he was; he was at the Pokémon Centre that located in the centre of town. That meant he was about half way there. He set off again, not bothering to take a break.

About ten minutes later, Ash found himself standing in front of a road block; the technical term for the big ambiguous sign that stretched over a two lane road and read: "Road closed for construction – we apologize for the inconvenience."

Ash growled in frustration as he looked at the map again, only to realise that he's lost his place once again. He was severely tempted to throw the book away but figured that wouldn't be the best thing to do.

"Get lost again?" a familiar voice said. Ash looked at the source; the same old man from earlier. His eyes were focused on the road block and he had an amused smile on his face.

"I'm not from around here," Ash told him in an attempt to defend himself. The blond chuckled as he walked over to Ash.

"I hate to make you feel worse," he started. He pointed to a building that was shaped like a fighting dojo. It was positioned just on the other side of the road block, "But the Gym is right there."

Ash looked at where the elderly man was pointing and nearly screamed. Then, something came to him, "How'd you know I was looking for the Gym?"

"Just a guess, since you were travelling in this general direction," the old man shrugged nonchalantly, "You might be able to get pass the sign, you know."

Ash was one step ahead of him as he was already examining the ten foot tall sign. The old man walked over as tried to jump and reach the top.

"You know, there's a reason why the road is closed," he informed, "Believe it or not, there're some massive holes on the other side of that sign."

"So I can't go this way?" Ash asked, defeated.

"Unfortunately, no," the old man said simply. He played around with his small ponytail for a while before continuing, "There's an alternate route, if you're interested."

"Of course I'm interested!" Ash said almost immediately.

"Whoa, calm down," the old man instructed, "I'll take you there."

"Thanks," Ash said, grinning, "Lead the way…"

"It's Jo," the blond said, walking off.

"Right, my name's Ash," Ash said, "Lead the way, Jo."

Jo took Ash around a couple of buildings and through a few alley ways. After about ten minutes, they finally arrived at the Gym. Jo left Ash on his own afterwards, claiming that if he got lost again then he was beyond help. Ash was a bit taken back by the remark, but thanked him regardless and walked the stone steps that led to the Gym doors.

As Ash entered, he called out, "Hello, my name's Ash and I've come for a Gym battle!"

"Wow, it took you long enough to get here," a familiar voice said. Ash saw May leaning against once of the wooden walls.

"May? What're you doing here?" Ash asked her.

"Oh, I never told you," May said. She then added bluntly, "I live here."

"Oh, right," Ash said. He then fully understood what May said, "Wait… you live here? In the Gym?"

"Yeah, I live here with my family," May told him. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Ash spoke up.

"Um… sorry about earlier," he said slowly, scratching the back of his head.

"Earlier?" May looked at him confusingly, "Oh, don't worry about that. I over reacted."

"But I still feel bad," Ash admitted, "So can I make it up to you by, I dunno, treating you to ice cream or something?"

"Hmm…," May thought about it, "Make it dinner and I'll forgive you."

Ash sweat dropped, wandering why she would suggest it, but agreed nonetheless, "Sure, that's fine."

May smiled at him, "Great, I know a really good place that's not too for from here."

Ash smiled back, "So is the Gym Leader here?"

"Yeah, he is," May said, "I'll introduce you to him and my family."

May took Ash to a dining room where three people were sat around a large, rectangular oak table. There was a man and a woman, obviously May's parents, and a little boy of around eight discussing something. May cleared her throat and the three looked at her, and then Ash once they noticed him.

"Mum, Dad, Max," May addressed each of them. "This is Ash, the trainer I was telling you about earlier."

The man stood up, revealing him self to be quite tall and bulky, and stared at Ash for a while before smiling warmly, "So you're the lad who's been looking after our May. My name is Norman; it's nice to meet you."

As he sat down, the woman stood up, "Thank you for doing so. My name's Caroline."

Ash smiled sheepishly, "I didn't do much of anything, really," he said modestly.

"You know, he looks kind of familiar," the boy said. He examined Ash from head to toe before snapping his fingers in enlightenment, "Now I know! I remember seeing you competing in the Johto League Silver Conference and losing in the second round of the Victory Tournament!"

Ash and Pikachu suddenly became depressed at the memory. May scolded her little brother, "Max, you shouldn't say things like that!"

"Aw come on sis, I was only telling Alf where I remembered him from," Max defended himself. If possible, Ash became even more depressed.

"It's Ash, not Alf," he corrected.

"Whatever," Max shrugged.

"So Ash, did you come here for a Gym battle?" Norman asked him. Ash instantly became excited.

"I sure did. What are the Gym rules?" he asked.

"Three on three, elimination," Max spoke up. Ash looked to Norman for confirmation and he nodded. The raven head slapped him self in the face.

"I only have one Pokémon on me," he groaned.

"But if you competed in the Silver Conference then you must have lots of Pokémon," Norman stated.

"I do," Ash confirmed, "But I left them all back at home because I wanted to start fresh with just my first Pokémon, Pikachu."

"Ah, I see," Norman nodded in understanding, "It's good to start fresh every now and again."

"You could have some transferred over," Caroline suggested.

"I could, but I promised them all some down time," Ash said. He turned Norman, "After I catch some more Pokémon, I'll come back."

"Well…," Norman started, thinking, "Since you came all this way, we could have a one on one battle."

"Really?!"

"It won't be an official gym battle, though," he added. Ash deflated slightly but was still excited about facing off against a Gym leader, officially or not.

"That's fine," the teen said quickly, "I still really want to battle you."

With the battle agreed upon, Norman took Ash to the Gym's battle field. It was a normal battle field that you see in the majority of Gyms in terms of size, shape and type. Some Gyms have different type battle fields to better accommodate the leader's Pokémon typing. In leagues and tournament, the field is bigger by about four or five metres and usually have rotating field types.

Norman decided to act as the referee for this match as well as Ash' opponent. Ash trusted him enough to do so as he stood at one end of the field in a rectangular box marked out by white lines. Pikachu was already out in front of him, ready to battle. They were both anxiously awaiting Norman's Pokémon.

"Looks like you're ready," Norman said. He took out a Pokéball and threw it out on the field, "Vigoroth, I choose you!"

From the Pokéball appeared a tall, intimidating white sloth-like creature with a tuff of red on its head. It had lanky arms with two black, razor sharp claws on the end. The Pokémon roared and beat its chest, causing everyone to flinch.

"A Vigoroth?" Ash asked no one as he took out his Pokédex.

"**Vigoroth: the Wild Monkey Pokémon. Vigoroth is always itching and agitated to go on a wild rampage. It simply can't tolerate sitting still for even a minute. This Pokémon's stress level rises if it is not moving constantly."**

"Sounds… nice," May said from the sidelines. Caroline nodded in agreement.

"Ash, you have the honour," Norman said.

"Okay Pikachu, are you ready?" he asked his best friend. Pikachu nodded with sparks flying out of its cheeks, "Start out with Quick Attack!"

Pikachu sped towards Vigoroth with the intention of tackling it. At the last possible second, Vigoroth moved aside thus resulting in a miss for Pikachu. The electric type skidded to a halt.

"Use Scratch, Vigoroth," Norman commanded. Vigoroth swung its arm with force at Pikachu, looking to catch it with its claws. Pikachu managed to dodge the first swipe but was too slow to avoid the second. The result was Pikachu being sent flying towards Ash's end of the field.

"_It's fast," _he thought, "Are you okay, Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded and stood up; not looking beat up at all. Ash smiled and called out, "Use Thunderbolt!"

"Dodge it!" Norman retaliated. The Wild Monkey Pokémon side stepped the bolt with ease, "Go in with Scratch!"

"Intercept with Quick Attack!" Ash countered. Pikachu used its speed to body check Vigoroth. The normal type looked like it hardly felt it as it swiped Pikachu away with its claws.

"Vigoroth, follow up with Focus Punch!" Norman called. Vigoroth tightened both its fist and its focus as it charged towards Pikachu.

"Use Agility to dodge!" Ash said frantically. Pikachu zipped past Vigoroth and barely avoided the powerful attack. Vigoroth swung its long arms around in an attempt to hit the speedy mouse but failed; Pikachu was just too fast for it.

"Grab that Pikachu, Vigoroth!" Norman said. Vigoroth reached out and miraculously grabbed hold of Pikachu's tail, stopping it dead in its tracks. Thanks to Pikachu's momentum, it felt quite a lot of pain from being grabbed.

Ash had to think quickly and decided to use a move he hasn't used in a long time, "Pikachu, use Slam!"

With surprising strength, Pikachu managed to use its tail to lift up and toss Vigoroth over itself and to the ground. The Wild Monkey Pokémon landed with a loud 'thud' as Pikachu stood exhausted from the effort.

"I never expected your Pikachu to be so strong," Norman admitted, "You've certainly raised it well."

"Heh, thanks," Ash said, "You're Vigoroth is really powerful as well."

"Let's continue, shall we?" Norman asked rhetorically, "Vigoroth, use Flamethrower!"

"A Flamethrower?!" Ash said in surprise. Pikachu was surprised as well as it just barely avoided the attack. Vigoroth kept up the pressure as it fired Flamethrower after Flamethrower at the electric type. Eventually, the tired Pikachu was caught.

"Pikachu, throw up a Light Screen!" Ash called frantically as a last ditch attempt. Pikachu, using the majority of its remaining energy, generated a translucent shield that blocked off the Flamethrower. Ash sighed in relief, _"I'll have to thank Mum for that one later." _

"Go in with Slash, Vigoroth!" Norman called. Vigoroth charged with its claws ready to slice. Ash knew that Light Screen would not protect Pikachu this time.

"Use Quick Attack to go between its legs!" Ash called. Pikachu dashed right underneath the normal-types legs, leaving behind a confused monkey, "Now use Thunder!"

Pikachu unleashed the powerful electric attack in hopes of finishing this battle off.

"Block it Flamethrower!"

The Thunder and Flamethrower attacks collided and exploded on impact, creating a cloud of smoke. Ash knew he had to seize this opportunity.

"Pikachu, finish this off with Double-Edge!" Ash called. Pikachu charged into the smoke surrounded by a yellow aura. The Kanto native rarely used this move as he knew the effects it can have on the user and that it was a fairly new move he was using.

"Vigoroth, use Focus Punch!" Norman called out. The two attacks collided, creating another puff of smoke and dust. Both the trainers and the spectators waited anxiously for the smoke to clear and reveal the outcome.

It seemed liked they had been waiting forever as the smoke cleared. Vigoroth could be seen standing and panting heavily. Pikachu, however, was knocked out on the ground. Ash got over the initial shock quickly and ran over to Pikachu.

"Are you okay, Pikachu?" he asked as he scooped it up. Pikachu gave a weak coo before falling asleep, "You did great."

"Excellent job, Vigoroth," Norman praised as he returned Vigoroth to its Pokéball. He walked over to Ash, "Ash that was most impressive. It's no wonder you placed so high in the Silver Conference."

"Yeah, but we still have a long way to go before we can beat you," Ash said modestly, "There are a lot of really strong Pokémon in this region."

Over on the sidelines, the three spectators had just recovered from the exciting battle. Max almost looked starry eyed, "That match was so awesome!" he exclaimed. He then added boastfully, "I knew Dad would win."

"Yes, but Ash pushed your father a long way," Caroline said, "I can't remember the last time he had to put so much effort into a battle."

"Ash is really good, huh," May added. She knew that not a lot of people beat her Dad in a battle, in fact, according to her younger brother's magazines only one out of twenty trainers beat Norman. That meant that if Norman were to battle against one hundred trainers, then only five would win. Even though Ash didn't win, he came very close.

"Is there a place where Pikachu can rest?" Ash asked Norman.

"Yes, I'll take you there," Norman said, taking Ash out of the room. Caroline looked up at a wall clock.

"Wow that passed a lot of time. I should start dinner," she said. May then suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Mum," she started, "Ash is taking me out for dinner."

"He is? Why's that?" Caroline asked in surprise.

"Yeah, who'd want to take you on a date?" Max snorted. May looked at him annoyed.

"Max, it's not a date," she told him, "He is simply paying back a couple of debts."

"Well, I was told in school that when a boy and girl go out together, whether it be to a restaurant or just a day out, it's called a date," Max said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"I told you, we aren't going out on a date!" May yelled, standing up. Caroline decided to step in before things got ugly.

"Well, whatever it is, you have a good time okay, May?" Caroline said to her. May nodded, "Max, why don't you help me with dinner."

"Okay, mum," Max said, following Caroline out of the room. Not before sticking his tongue out at May, however.

May crossed her arms over her chest, "Sometimes I can't believe the nerve of that kid."

* * *

Standing in a tree in a forest not to far from Petalburg City was none other than Joaquin, garbed in the tell-tale uniform of Team Ozone. He was standing on a branch high up in a tall tree, using the trunk for support, as he observed the happenings down below on the forest floor.

In a tree next to him was the red-head Rouge, lab coat and all, standing in a similar position to Joaquin on a branch closer to the ground. She was observing as well.

Hiding behind Joaquin's tree was Kyoku, obviously too big and heavy to stand on a branch. He was taking the occasional peak around the trunk.

They were all watching two men, one in the red uniform of Team Magma and a man in a black business style suit. The one in the suit had a briefcase. They were discussing something.

"So do you have the papers?" the Magma member asked him. The man nodded and smirked.

"Of course, those guys at the Devon Corporation were easy to fool," he chuckled dryly. He handed the case over to the Magma member, who opened it and checked its contents. He nodded and closed the case.

"Did you find anything on the Aqua insider?" the Magma member asked him.

"Nothing yet," the other one said, "He's very good at covering his tracks and keeping a low profile. Just what I'd expect from them, really."

The Magma man grunted, "Keep up the good work."

Joaquin and Rogue suddenly jumped down from the trees. Joaquin landed in front of the Magma member and Rouge in front of the suited man. Both were startled. That brief hesitation allowed Rouge to insert a syringe into the suited man, injecting him with some sort of liquid. The man flopped to the floor in a heap.

The Magma member was now on full alert as he pulled out a Pokéball. Joaquin skilfully kicked the ball out of his hands. He then used his right shoulder to 'spear' the guy to the ground. The Magma guy was stronger than Joaquin though and easily kicked him off. He delivered a strong punch to the blond's mouth. Joaquin recovered quickly. He shuffled his feet slightly and delivered a sharp, high kick to the man's chin. The man fell to the ground, knocked out.

Kyoku came out from his hiding place and whistled at Rogue and Joaquin's handy work. He observed the Magma member before chuckling, "Looks like he sang to the tune of 'Sweet Chin Music'."

Joaquin eyed him whilst rubbing his jaw, "You've been watching too much wrestling."

"So have you by the looks of things," the giant chortled. Joaquin grunted.

"Just hurry up and carry these guys to the helicopter," he instructed.

Kyoku shrugged as he picked men and placed them on either shoulder with ease. He walked ahead of Joaquin and Rouge, whistling a jolly tune. Joaquin picked up both the briefcase and the Pokéball.

"I question the leader's order to capture the insider." The red head told the blond, "We could've used him in some way."

"You know what he's like," Joaquin responded, "He's a hands on, direct type of guy; prefers to send us out to do things like this instead of letting someone else do it. It's a matter of trust, really."

"I suppose so," Rouge said thoughtfully, "I also find it strange how that Magma grunt had no back up. Unless that back up has gone to inform their leader of our interruption."

"Possible," the blond shrugged. When they finally reached their helicopter, Kyoku unceremoniously chucked the two bodies into the air craft and went in. Rouge soon followed and took the drivers seat. Joaquin got on soon after.

"Quick, don't let them get away!" a voice called out. Team Ozone noticed about five Magma grunts surrounding their air craft, each one with a Golbat that was tackling the helicopter.

"Rouge, you know what to do!" Joaquin called out. Rouge nodded and got out of her seat. She threw a Pokéball out the helicopter. Out of the ball appeared a green bird with white wings.

"Xatu, blow them away with Psychic," Rouge said calmly. Xatu flapped its wings once and sent out a strong wave of Psychic power, blowing the Golbat and Magma members away. Rouge quickly returned the Psychic type and sat back down in the driving seat.

The helicopter hovered for a bit before taking off into the sky. The Magma grunts got up and cursed at Team Ozone's escape. One of them pulled out a communication device and spoke in to it.

"Sir, Team Ozone escaped with one of our members, the Devon Corp insider and the briefcase with the research papers," he said regretfully. There was shouting on the other end for a while, "Yes sir, we'll track them down as best we can."

On the helicopter, Kyoku breathed a sigh of relief, "That was a close one."

Joaquin finished tying a knot in the ropes binding their two captives, "I have to admit, waiting for us at out helicopter was pretty smart."

"But they underestimated us," Rouge pointed out, "I think the leader will be very pleased with this catch."

Kyoku yawned loudly, "I think I deserve a nice beer and a bag of peanuts when we get back."

* * *

And here is the end.

I must make a disclaimer here: I do not own WWE!

In case you didn't know, the Spear and Sweet Chin Music are moves taken straight from the WWE. They are finishing manoeuvres use by Edge and Shawn Michaels respectively.

Kyoku's line: "Looks like he sang to the tune of Sweet Chin Music," is a reference to interviews and segments involving Shawn Michael where he commonly said: "You'll be singing to the tune of Sweet Chin Music!" when talking to other superstars. This was his way of saying: "You're going to get kicked in the chin."

Oh yeah, as you can see from the battle, I've added three moves to Pikachu's move pool: Slam, Light Screen and Double-edge. The first two can be learned by level and the last one is a move tutor move. I added these in to make Pikachu's movepool a bit more deeper and to give myself a bit more varierty for battles.

I'm going to leave you with the title for Chapter Four: "Mightyena Again? The First Capture!"


	4. Mightyena Again? The First Capture!

Nothing to say other than thank you to those who reviwed!

* * *

Ash and Pikachu were lounging on an expensive looking couch in the Maple's living room. It was about 8:30 in the morning and Ash and May were set to leave at around ten o'clock. Thanks to the little, but very expensive, dinner the two had the previous night, Ash had to stay the night since they didn't arrive back till about nine o'clock; too late for them to leave the city and set out towards Rustboro City.

The evening out gave them an opportunity to iron out the details of their trip. Since May said that all debts had been repaid, that meant that the original idea of Ash having to 'protect' May (since Pikachu destroyed her bike) had become void. Therefore, Ash was free to travel by himself with no strings attached (he could've not travelled with May in the first place, but it wasn't in his character to not repay her for destroying her bike). Ash then offered for her to come along with him, since she was his friend and that his and her own trip would be made a lot easier. May was surprised that Ash called her a friend despite the fact that hardly knew anything about eachother and when she questioned Ash about this, he reiterated that fact that he thought of her as a friend.

"_Even though we don't know anything about eachother, you're still my friend," he said, "I trust you." _

May had agreed to come along. Currently, she was up in her room packing some necessities for travelling; something she didn't do originally. Ash was patiently waiting for her downstairs and was looking through his guide book to pass the time. Pikachu, now fully recovered from its intense battle with Norman's Vigoroth, was curled up beside him and napping quietly. On the other end of the couch was Max. The young boy was silently staring at Ash, much to the older boy's increasing annoyance.

"Do you have to keep staring at me like that?" Ash asked him, hiding his annoyance.

"I'm not staring at you, I just have a lazy eye," Max denied. His tone was innocent enough to sound like he was telling the truth, but Ash had a feeling otherwise.

"But you wear glasses, don't they make you see better?" he questioned.

"Still doesn't deny the fact that I have a lazy eye," Max insisted. Ash sighed.

"Then face another direction," he said.

"Still have a lazy eye."

Ash sighed in exasperation. This whole conversation sounded very familiar except this time it won't end with a very expensive dinner. He shook his head and focused on the book in his hands.

Norman entered the room with a mug of, judging by the smell, coffee and sat in an armchair. He took a sip from the mug before setting it down on the coffee table in between the sitting furniture. He picked up a newspaper and started to read the front page. Ash had managed to catch a glimpse at the main head line earlier. It was: "Outbreak at Oldale Prison: Magma Grunts Escape!" It had piqued his interest slightly, but he didn't read on since the headline told him all the information he needed.

"Max, you shouldn't annoy our guests," Norman scolded him.

"But Dad, it's not everyday you have someone who's competed in the Silver Conference in your own house," Max said, staring at Ash again. Norman raised an eyebrow.

"Max, I competed in the Silver Conference and—"

"—finished in the Top 16, I know," Max interrupted, "But Alf over here finished in the Top 8!"

"Excuse me, the name's Ash," Ash said, annoyed, "Not Alf."

"But Ash is a strange name and not many people are called Ash so it's kind of hard to remember," Max explained, "Whereas Alf is quite common so it's easier to remember."

"You know, he has a point," Norman chimed, "The name Ash is almost as rare as—"

"—as that Mightyena that's in your back garden?" Ash suggested. Norman nodded.

"Yes, as rare as that Mightyena in our back garden…"

There was silence before the three males chorused, "What?!"

The three them looked towards the back door, which was also a large window, and true to Ash's word there was a Mightyena looking in through the glass. It was panting as it had its tongue hanging out of its mouth. It cocked its head in confusion at the three surprised faces looking back at it.

Norman hurriedly put the paper down and got up from the arm chair. He went over to the door, quickly followed by Ash and Max. Norman unlocked the door and opened it. The Mightyena barked happily and pounced on Ash who was caught completely off guard. He fell onto his back with the Mightyena on top of him, licking his face.

"That's not your Mightyena, is it Ash?" Max asked curiously.

"No," Ash said, scrunching his face up as a sloppy tongue was brought across it.

"It seems to like you," Norman commented. Ash had finally managed to sit up and stared face to face with the Mightyena, who was sitting there and looking at Ash innocently. For some reason, it looked familiar but that may have been because Ash had only seen one Mightyena before.

"I wonder why it's here," Norman said thoughtfully.

"It could be someone's pet," Ash said. He patted the Bike Pokémon on the head with his, currently, bare hands. The Mightyena seemed to enjoy it.

"Mightyena are naturally too aggressive to be someone's pet," Max said in a know it all tone, "A Poochyena, on the other hand, make really good pets since they are not so aggressive."

"I don't see anything aggressive about this one, though," Ash said, still patting the Bite Pokémon.

"Yes, that is strange," Norman said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Maybe you should catch it," Max suggested. As the sound of catch, Mightyena leapt up and ran out into the garden. It started to bark at the trio and jerked its head in a certain direction, "Does it want us to follow it?"

"I think it does," Ash said. He walked over to the couch, roused Pikachu and quickly put on his hat and gloves, "Pikachu, we have to go somewhere!"

Pikachu woke up, stretched and then hopped onto Ash's shoulder. Ash, Max and Norman ran up to Mightyena and it started to run across the back garden. They came to a large hole that was in the fence.

"So this is how Mightyena got here," Max mused. Norman shook his head.

"I swear I fixed this fence," he mumbled.

"Come on you guys," Ash urged from the other side. Mightyena added its own barks of urging.

Norman and Max squeezed through the gap and followed Ash and Mightyena through a rather empty street. Eventually, they left the city and were now running into a forest.

Mightyena took the trio to a clearing within the forest. When they arrived, Max collapsed in exhaustion, and groaned, "Why… did… we… have to… run so much?"

Norman, who wasn't even winded, said, "Looks like you should have said yes when I asked to come running with me."

Mightyena barked again to get the trio's attention. It started to growl as it jerked its head in another direction. Ash, Norman and Max looked in that direction and saw something that shocked them.

Lots of Poochyena of varying ages were being held captive in an overlarge steel cage. They were barking and yelping; some were whining and some were trying to get free. Mightyena wandered over and started to console them.

"Who'd do such a thing?!" Max exclaimed as he ran over to them as well. Norman stood beside Ash.

"It could've been the work of poachers," he said, "I'm sorry to say that they're quite common in this area."

Ash's fist clenched, "Whoever it is has no right to do this."

"That's right," Norman added, "We should set these little guys free."

As Ash and Norman walked over to the cage, a loud explosion echoed throughout the area. It was followed by a huge cloud of smoke and a bellowing laugh.

"Prepare for trouble, we've finally found you," a woman's voice recited.

"Make it double, it's our big debut," a man followed up.

The smoke finally cleared and revealed a man with blue hair garbed in a white top and trousers with black boots. On the front of the shirt was large, red 'R'. The woman had purple hair that looked like a ponytail even though there was no hair band. She was in a skimpier version of the man's uniform; including a shirt that barely covered her chest and a short skirt. Her boots were thigh high.

The woman struck a pose and said, "To protect the world from devastation."

The man mirrored the pose and followed it up with, "To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie," the woman said.

"James," said the man.

"And Meowth!" a cat-like Pokémon exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere. It was white and brown, stood on its hind legs and had a golden pendant on its forehead.

The woman continued, "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."

The man followed, "Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Meowth, that's right!" the Meowth finished.

"Team Rocket? Never heard of you," Max said, causing the trio to fall over in a humorous fashion.

"It doesn't ring a bell," Norman added, "Are they poachers?"

"Poachers?!" the woman exclaimed, "I have you know that we are above them!"

"Team Rocket, why are you here?!" Ash yelled at them.

"Do you know them, Ash?" Norman questioned, signalling to the team. Ash nodded at him.

"These guys have been following me around since the start if my journey; always trying to steal Pikachu," Ash said angrily, "I can't believe you guys followed me all the way here!"

"We'll follow for as it long as it takes to capture that Pikachu!" Meowth said. The Scratch-Cat Pokémon suddenly pressed a button on a remote control and a hot air balloon appeared out of nowhere. This wasn't no ordinary hot air balloon, however, as jets had been fitted to the basket. The cage on the ground was connected to the bottom of the basket by a steel cable. The trio jumped into the hot air balloon and began to slowly hover off of the ground.

"Wait, where are you going with those Poochyena?!" Max called out.

"We figured that our new secret hide out could use some security," James said, "What better Pokémon than Poochyena?"

"You won't get away!" Norman called, reaching for a Pokéball. However, he only grabbed air. He jumped in realisation, "Ah, I left my Pokémon in the greenhouse!"

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash called out. Pikachu unleashed the electric charge and aimed it at the hot air balloon.

"Electric attack deflecting umbrella, activate!" James said, unfolding a colourful umbrella and blocking the Thunderbolt with it. The attack suddenly bounced off of it and back down to ground, "You should know that we always come prepared."

Ash growled in frustration as Team Rocket started to speed away. Mightyena growled as well and started to give chase. It suddenly jumped high into the air and landed on top of the cage full of Poochyena. It started to gnaw at the cable. The Poochyena barked their encouragements.

"Go up their and help Mightyena out!" Ash told Pikachu. Ash launched Pikachu into the air and it landed on top of the cage as well. Team Rocket gasped in surprise.

"Oh no you don't!" Jessie said. She threw out a Pokéball and long, black and purple snake appeared, "Go Seviper, use Poison Tail!"

The snake's razor like tail glowed purple as it struck the Mightyena. The Bite Pokémon recoiled at the strike but tackled it away.

"They got a new Pokémon?!" Ash asked in shock. Ash called out to them, "Did you steel that one as well?!"

"No, we actually caught this one fair and square!" Jessie argued.

"And this one too," James added, calling out a tiny cacti with arms and very sharp spikes. The cactus jumped up and hugged its master, "I love you too, but we've got other problems!"

"What happened to Arbok and Weezing?!" Ash asked them, seemingly forgetting the current situation for now.

"We actually did some good and left them behind to protect other Pokémon," Jessie said.

"It was so depressing!" James sobbed. Ash, Norman and Max looked at them strangely for a moment as they all huddled together and cried. They then shook their heads and turned their attention back to the scuffle on top of the cage.

Mightyena was butting heads with Seviper, each one occasionally getting the odd hit in. Seviper swung its tail and the dog, but it avoided the attack and clamped its fangs down on it.

The cacti-like Pokémon Cacnea was firing rounds of needles at Pikachu who was carefully dodging them within the enclosed space. It had tried using Thunderbolt a couple times but found that Cacnea was not that effective by the powerful attack. Pikachu had to resort to hit and run since the grass-type had the advantage with long-distance attacks.

Unbeknownst to the battling Pokémon, their combined weight was slowly weakening the half chewed cable. The cage occasionally leaned in one direction, much to the protest of the captive Poochyena.

Seviper swung its razor like tail again. Mightyena ducked and the tail cut through the cable. Everyone suddenly stopped and the cage plummeted to the ground. Before the steel cage could crash to the ground, the four Pokémon jumped onto the ground.

The cage crashed with a very loud 'thud' and caused some of the Poochyena hit their heads on the ceiling. Team Rocket stopped crying when they realised something.

"We suddenly feel very light," James pointed out. The trio looked down and saw the cage along with their Pokémon.

"That stupid twerp!" Jessie growled, "Meowth, set this thing down!"

"Aye-aye!" Meowth said, hitting another button on the remote. The jets flipped over and the balloon began to descend to the ground. They landed safely and jumped out of the basket to confront the trio who were trying to open the cage.

"You won't be able to get in without this key!" Meowth taunted, holding up a silver key.

"And you'll never get it," Jessie smirked, "Seviper, use Poison Tail!"

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash countered.

"Cacnea, use Pin Missile!" James ordered.

Seviper was shocked by Pikachu before it could hit it with Poison Tail. Mightyena jumped out of the way of Cacnea's Pin Missile attack. It then ran towards Cacnea with its fangs glowing purple. It clamped down on the grass-type's arm, causing it a great deal of pain.

"That was a Poison Fang," Norman observed.

"I didn't know Mightyena could do Poison Fang," Max said, amazed.

Meanwhile, Meowth was taunting the Poochyena with the key. The cat Pokémon would laugh every time one of them tried to get it. However, it didn't expect one of them to tackle the bars. Meowth dropped the key in surprise and Max quickly picked it up. He struggled with the lock for a while before finally succeeding.

Wasting no time, several of the Poochyena tackled the bars and the door swung open, knocking Meowth aside in the process. The Poochyena growled at Team Rocket, scaring them.

One of them, the same that caused Meowth to drop the key, stepped forward with Mightyena. Simultaneously, they both tackled Cacnea and Seviper, causing them to fly into the trio.

Ash knew what to do next, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu smirked at the scared trio before unleashing the powerful electric attack. The trio, along with their Pokémon, were shocked before an explosion occurred, sending them all flying into the air.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they cried as they disappeared into the sky.

Max watched them as they sailed away, "Going, going, gone," he said, "What a bunch of creeps."

"Unfortunately, you get used to them," Ash sighed.

"There's still one question that remains," Norman said, joining the two, "Why did Mightyena come to us, or more specifically, Ash, for help when it could've gone to somebody else?"

"Good question," Max complimented. They watched as the Mightyena and Poochyena celebrated with eachother. Mightyena then wandered over to Ash and started to sniff at his thigh.

"What is it, Mightyena?" Ash asked it curiously. Mightyena barked a couple of times before sniffing again. Pikachu realised something and attempted to try and tell Ash. After a while, Ash realised something as well, "Wait a minute, you're sniffing at where a Mightyena bit me before, aren't you?"

Mightyena nodded.

Ash continued, "And you're that same Mightyena?"

Mightyena nodded again.

"So that's why you came to me for help," Ash mused. Mightyena responded by tackling Ash to the ground again and started licking his face, "Stop it, I like you too!"

"You know, maybe you should catch Mightyena," Norman said, "It seems to like you an awful lot."

"What do you think, Mightyena?" Ash asked the Bite Pokémon. The dark-type nodded vigorously before flattening out its body, growling.

"Of course, it wants to battle first," Norman said, smiling.

"But wait, what about the Poochyena?" Max spoke up, "If you catch Mightyena, they'll lose their leader."

Mightyena turned around and started to communicate with the Poochyena. They barked back a couple of times. After a while, Mightyena turned back around and nodded, signalling that the issue has been resolved. It got into its battle stance once more.

"Alright, let's go Pikachu!" Ash said to Pikachu. The electric type got into its own stance as sparks flew from its cheeks.

Mightyena charged in with Take Down, looking for a quick victory. Pikachu dodged it and Mightyena skidded to a halt.

"Use Quick Attack!" Ash called. Pikachu body checked Mightyena, causing it stumble, however it reacted quickly and slammed a glowing tail into Pikachu.

"That was an Iron Tail!" Norman called from the sidelines.

"Iron Tail, huh," Ash muttered as Pikachu got up, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt."

Mightyena dodged the attack and leapt into the air, aiming to hit Pikachu with Iron Tail again. Ash was ready this time, though, "Jump at the last second to dodge it!

Pikachu did just that and successfully avoided the attack. It was now directly above Mightyena.

"Now use Thunder!" Ash followed up. Mightyena was hit with full force from one of the strongest electric attack in existence. Surprisingly, it recovered quickly and used Tack Down as Pikachu fell back down to the ground.

Pikachu was knocked back but used the ground to slow itself down. Mightyena came charging in with its fangs glowing purple.

"Use Quick Attack to go under its legs!" Ash called. Pikachu dashed right underneath Mightyena, causing it to get confused and whirl around.

Pikachu skidded to a stop as it turned around, "Now finish it with Double-edge!"

The electric charged in again, surrounded by a yellow aura. Mightyena couldn't react quickly enough and was hit with the all-or-nothing attack. Seeing his chance, Ash pulled out an empty Pokéball and threw it at Mightyena. The ball opened as it hit the Pokémon and sucked it inside. It closed as it landed on the ground. The Pokéball started to wobble from side to side, leaving Ash and the others in suspense. After a while, the ball finally stopped wobbling altogether and sat there in the grass. Ash and Pikachu breathed a sigh of relief as they walked up to the ball.

The teen picked it up and grinned at his success. He restrained himself from doing his trademark pose, as he has finally realised how embarrassing it is, and threw the ball into the air, "Come on out, Mightyena!"

Mightyena appeared, looking a bit worse for wear but healthy enough to stand. It barked happily along with its now former companions.

Ash, Norman and Max waited patiently for Mightyena to finish say its goodbyes. It would seem that Ash will be staying in Petalburg for a couple more hours for a number of reasons. Firstly, Pikachu and Mightyena will need to rest at the Pokémon Centre, and secondly, the trio will have to explain to two potentially angry women about there sudden disappearance. Not to sound sexist or anything, but women can come to the most ridiculous of conclusions…

After dropping off Pikachu and Mightyena at the Pokémon Centre, the three males returned to the Maple residence. Upon their return, they were confronted by Caroline and May about their disappearance. The males hastily told the two about the events that have transpired; the Mightyena appearance, the Poochyena captives and Team Rocket. After the story, Caroline said that she thought Norman had snuck out to "the place" again.

"_I promised you before; I will never go to 'the place' again," he said. He then muttered, "You never mentioned anything about 'that place' though…" _

May then embarrassingly admitted that she thought Ash had ditched her. Ash immediately denied ever doing so and Max, being the clever person that he is, pointed out that Ash's backpack was still on the sofa. A bit of reassuring and a bit of brotherly/sisterly 'love' later, Ash and May were finally ready to go.

However, Norman pulled Ash into another room before the two could leave. He said that they will only be a couple of minutes. May and Max were confused but Caroline had a slight idea about what they were talking about.

"What is it, Norman?" Ash asked, getting straight to the point. While he was curious, he was also a bit displeased about the fact that his departure has been further delayed.

"Ash, have you ever released a Pokémon before?" Norman asked him seriously. Ash was confused.

"Yeah, a couple," he answered, "Why?"

"Then you must know what it feels like to say goodbye to someone very close to you," Norman stated.

Ash thought back to the times when he released three Pokémon: his Pidgeot which had evolved from Pidgeotto, the second Pokémon he ever caught, which he left behind to protect a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto from Spearow and Fearow. Another one was a young Lapras that he had met in the Orange Islands (Archipelago). The water-type had assisted in his travelling and some of his Gym battles before he returned it to its pack. Later, in Johto, he found out that Lapras was now leader of that pack. Then there was Butterfree, the first Pokémon he ever caught (when it was a Caterpie) who he released so it could mate. He even left Pikachu behind but it came back to him. It was safe to say that Ash knew what it felt like, but where was Norman going with this?

"I guess so," Ash said, "I've never really thought about it. Why do you want to know?"

"It's good that you understand what Caroline and my self are going through now," Norman started, "Seeing May off on her journey is hard for us."

"Oh…," Ash said in realisation. It was only natural for a parent to be worried, he figured, since his mother was constantly worried about him, "My mum felt the same way."

"Even though we know she's going to come home safely," the Gym leader continued, "We can't help but worry that something might happen to her. At first, we were going to keep her behind until she was a little older but we didn't want her feeling left out as everyone else her age goes out on their journey. Now that we're letting her go, it feels like we're sending her off unprepared and its making us worry even more. Not to mention the fact that Team Magma and Aqua are out there, stirring up trouble."

Norman let his words sink in before finishing up, "Ash, I want to make a request of you."

"A request?" the raven head questioned. Norman nodded, "Sure, I guess."

"I want to ask you to look out for May and protect her," Norman said.

Ash didn't really need to think much about the request as he would've done it regardless, "I'll do it."

Norman took Ash's hand and shook it firmly. He looked relieved, "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"I promise you, I will not let you down."

* * *

The streets of Rustboro were certainly very heavily populated and hectic. In a city, the people were like the trees in a forest.

That was one lesson that Joaquin was taught a few years back as he walked with the crowd, dressed up in casual clothes so as to not arouse any suspicion. His uniform had been replaced with black cargo trousers, a white shirt with a sleeveless red hooded jumper over it. His boots were replaced with simple black and white trainers and his scarf had been discarded. To further add to the illusion, his hair had been pulled back into a small and tight pony tail, barring one clump that covered his right ear.

On that right ear was a communication device. Through it, he could receive instructions from HQ. With the noise of the city acting as a cover up, Joaquin spoke.

"The target has been sighted," he whispered. The device was ultra-sensitive and could pick up the quietest of sounds.

"_Keep your distance and don't lose sight," _said someone on the other end. It was only audible to Joaquin.

"Roger that," Joaquin responded.

His emerald eyes were locked onto the 'target', a man in a white lab coat and a long brown ponytail. He looked to be a normal researcher from the Devon Corporation, judging by the company logo, but the dark sun glasses made him look suspicious, especially with the day being overcast.

Joaquin's job was to monitor this man outside of the building, whist the insider from Team Ozone monitored him inside. He also had the task of keeping an eye on the Team Magma members that had confronted them the day before; they were apparently lurking around the area according to police reports.

The target soon disappeared into a massive sky-scraper like building. Joaquin spoke into the device, "Target has re-entered Devon Corp."

"_Roger that. We are now informing the insider," _they confirmed, _"Anything else to report?" _

Joaquin looked around for anything strange; particularly Team Magma or Aqua. He looked up in the sky, but spotted nothing out of the ordinary. Someone in a green suit suddenly barged him out of the way, but he paid no attention to it. Seeing that nothing was out of ordinary, he reported in.

"Other than the fat guy running down the street, nothing else to report," he said.

"_A fat guy running is pretty out of the ordinary, you better follow him," _someone said. Joaquin didn't know if he was joking or not since the tone used was neutral and showed no indication of humour but he decided to follow that order anyway. Usually when you see someone running down the street like that, something terrible has happened so he figured he might get a little action while he was here.

"Roger that."

* * *

End Chapter Four.

I deeply apologise to anyone who was offended by the sexist statement and the joke about the fat guy. If you were, please let me know and I will refrain from making such remarks again in the future.

The capture of Mightyena marks the first time Ash has ever owned a dark-type and is the third fully evolved Pokémon Ash has caught (Muk in Kanto, Noctowl in Johto and Mightyena in Hoenn).

I hope I did a good job on Team Rocket. They were actually a last minute inclusion but will appear later on.

A note regarding the story as a whole: I have figured out a method of structuring this story and I would like for you to tell me what you think.

Basically, the story will be split into four major arcs: Advanced, Advanced Challenges, Advanced Battles and Battle Frontier. Each major arc will then be split into two minor parts or segments. The first five parts will cover all of Ash's gym battles with the sixth covering the Hoenn League and Grand Festival. The seventh and eighth parts are still in the planning stages. Currently, I am thinking of extending the Advanced Generation by one more major arc, so we'll have ten parts. But that is also in the planning stages.

Each part will involve the three teams (Magma, Aqua and Ozone) in both a minor (The little segments at the end of the last couple of chapters are minor) and major (not saying) way.

Coincidentally, we have six elite trainers (Elite Four, Champion and Former Champion) and six parts. I'll let you figure that one out.

I'll try to keep the number of chapters in each part the same, give or take a couple, but I won't promise anything.

Like before, I'll leave you with the title of the next chapter: "Into the Forest!"

Please take some time to review my story.


	5. Into the Forest!

Here is chapter five. Again, not much to say other than thank you to those who reviewed!

* * *

"Oh… where are we?" May groaned, lingering behind Ash somewhat. The two were walking down a dirt path with the morning sun shining overhead.

"I don't know," Ash sighed, now having answered that question for the fifth time.

"How could you not? You've got the maps!" May exclaimed.

"Not of the forest!" Ash said back. He waved his guide book around, "This thing only has regional and town maps."

May sighed and groaned again, "I wish I had a PokéNavi."

"What's a PokéNavi?" Ash asked with Pikachu mirroring his confusion. May gave him an odd look of surprise; almost as if he was not of this planet.

"How could you not know what a PokéNavi is? They're an essential tool for all trainers," May said.

"Alright, what do they do?" Ash asked.

"They can display satellite interpreted maps, or something like that," May said uncertainly, "At least, that's what Dad said… anyway, the point is you can never get lost without one."

"Huh, that does sound handy," Ash mused, "Too bad we don't have one."

"That's what I said…"

"Oh well, we'll just have to make do without one," Ash said nonchalantly. He started to walk without a care in the world with his hands behind his head, "We're not going to get anywhere standing around here."

"True," May said and quickly caught up. Suddenly, May's stomach rumbled loudly, causing Ash to stop back and look back in confusion and May to blush in embarrassment, "Guess I'm a little hungry."

Ash smiled, "Let's stop for lunch then. We can figure out where to go afterwards."

May nodded and started to rummage through her new yellow backpack, the one full of travelling necessities that she brought from her home, for any form of food. To her huge disappointment, she found none. She looked at her bag in disbelief.

"I've got nothing," the brunette informed.

Ash had a similar reaction when he found out that he had no food either. Pikachu was close to tears when he found out there was no Pokémon food left.

"Me neither," it was Ash's turn to groan, "I knew we should've saved some of that lunch your mum made."

"You were the one who ate it all!" May snapped, not believing the hypocrisy of Ash's statement.

"No I wasn't!" Ash snapped back. He pointed an accusing finger at May, "You were the one taking bites out of the lunch while we were walking. There was hardly any left when we had lunch yesterday!"

"I only took a little bit," May argued. Ash face-palmed at her defence.

"Let's stop arguing and go find something to eat," he reasoned.

"Fine. Let's go," May agreed. So the two began to search the trees and bushes in the forest for any source of food or more specifically, berries and fruit.

"What a day," May remarked, "First we get lost and now we have no food. You're the professional traveller Ash, I'm surprised that you got us lost and forgot our food.

Ash grunted, "I wasn't the one who did all that stuff usually, it was Brock."

"Brock?" May asked in interest, "Who's Brock?"

"A friend I was travelling with; knew a lot about Pokémon," Ash explained. He and Pikachu started to drool slightly, "But he really knew how to cook. I wish he was here right now…"

May walked over and pulled the brim of Ash's cap down, making the hat cover his eyes. She huffed, "Sorry I'm so useless compared to him."

"I didn't say you were useless," Ash said confusedly.

"Whatever," May waved him off and continued to search for food. Ash started to look as well until he got an idea.

He plucked a Pokéball off of his belt and tossed it into the air, "Mightyena, help us look for food!"

The newly captured Mightyena appeared, wagging its tail happily. It barked a couple of times before sniffing around, presumably carrying out Ash's request. After a minute or two, it barked and ran off.

"Come on May, let's follow it!" Ash called out as he followed his dark-type. May followed him and after a short while, they arrived in a clearing where a camp was set up.

There was one tent and stone fire. More importantly, cooking over the fire was the delightful sight of stew. It smelt great.

However, there was a person there as well. He was cooking the food while looking at the newcomers inquiringly. His attention turned to Mightyena, who was barking at the stew.

"Who are you guys?" he finally asked.

Ash grinned sheepishly, "Sorry to come running in like this. My Mightyena smelled some food and led us here."

"Unfortunately, the food we found isn't for taking," May said. Mightyena hung its head, thinking it did badly. May saw this and quickly said, "But Mightyena still did a great job finding this place!"

"Oh, so you're both lost and have no food," the teen said, "So you used Mightyena to find food and it brought you here."

"Yeah, that's it," Ash said, "We'll be going now."

"No, wait," the teen said, standing up, "I've got plenty of food here. You can have some if you like."

"Really?!" May asked hopefully. The teen nodded and smiled.

"Sure, a cutie like you shouldn't have to go hungry," he said casually. May was too focused on the food to notice the compliment and sat down on the ground. She was practically drooling.

Ash sat down as well and said, "May, I think Torchic may want to eat as well."

May snapped out her trance, "Oh, right."

She called out her Torchic, who looked excited to be outside, and went back into her trance. The teen looked at them both.

"So I take it you're both trainers?" he asked.

Ash nodded, "Yeah, my name's Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town."

"Oh, and I'm May," May said, still focusing on the food.

"I'm a trainer too," the teen said, "My name's Brendan."

Brendan looked to be older than May but younger than Ash, though it was very hard to tell. He looked to have white hair but it surprisingly didn't look like hair. He had a red and black headband, a black long sleeved shirt with bits of yellow and red and black trouser with yellow at the bottom. He wore red and yellow trainers.

"Is your hair natural?" May suddenly asked. Brendan chortled.

"No, it's a hat," he grinned, fixing the strange on his head so it revealed a bit of dark hair, "A lot of people ask that question."

"White hair isn't exactly common," May commented, "So why do you wear the hat?"

Brendan shrugged, "I don't know; it came with the outfit."

The stew that was cooking started to bubble. Brendan looked over it and tasted it quickly, "Stew's on!"

He dished out the stew to everybody, including the Pokémon. Ash and May thanked him and hastily dug in. It was a quick May for everyone.

"That was good!" May complimented, putting her bowl to the side.

"Hey May," Brendan said, "Did you get that Torchic from my dad?"

"Your dad?" May asked. She then caught on, "You mean Professor Birch?"

"Yeah, that's him," Brendan said, "I'm assuming that you did then."

"I didn't know Professor Birch was married," May mused, "Dad never mentioned anything."

"Oh, who's your father?" Brendan asked.

"My dad is the Gym leader in Petalburg City," May informed him, not at all gloatingly, "He and your dad and good friends, apparently."

"Yeah, they are," Brendan confirmed.

While the two were talking about their respective father's, Ash had a slight frown. Ash had never known his father and has never heard anyone talking about him. The conversation between Brendan and May got him thinking about whether or not his father was as famous as their fathers.

May turned to him but didn't notice his frown, "Hey Ash, what about your dad?"

"What about him?" Ash said quickly.

"Is he famous or anything like that?"

"Erm…ah, he's a pretty ordinary guy," Ash answered, waving them off and putting on a fake smile, "Nothing too special about him…"

May looked at Ash strangely for a moment before shrugging it off, seeing nothing out of place.

Brendan stood up suddenly, "Ash, how about a battle?"

Ash stood up as well, the thoughts about his father gone from his mind, "Sure, I'm always up for a battle!"

"Great," Brendan grinned, "I know a little clearing not too far from here."

Brendan took Ash and May to a clearing about two or three metres away from the camp. He stood at one end while Ash stood at another. May stood to side and sat down with Torchic in her lap.

"We'll have a two on two battle!" Brendan called from his end.

"That's fine with me!" Ash called back.

"Right then," Brendan said, taking out a Pokéball and tossing it into the air, "Go, Nuzleaf!"

A humanoid Pokémon appeared. It was brown in colour and a sort of white mask. Its legs were bulky and it had a lead on top of its head.

Ash examined the Pokémon in his Pokédex, **"Nuzleaf: the Wily Pokémon. Nuzleaf lives in densely overgrown forests. They occasionally venture out of the forest to frighten people. This Pokémon dislikes having its long nose pinched." **

"Okay," Ash said, turning to Mightyena, "You're up, Mightyena!"

Mightyena jumped out in front of Ash and flattened out its body. It growled at Nuzleaf and intimidated it slightly, judging by the sudden startled posture of the grass-type.

"Nuzleaf, use Brick Break!" Brendan called without warning. Nuzleaf charged in with a glowing a hand and held it high above its head. It brought it down but the agile dark-type slipped out of the way.

"Use Iron Tail!" Ash ordered. Mightyena swung its glowing tail around and hit Nuzleaf on the side of its head, causing it to fall over onto its side.

"Get up and use Bullet Seed!" Brendan called. Nuzleaf quickly jumped up to its feet and fired round after round of small green pellets. The attacks hit Mightyena on the side but the dark-type stood strong.

"Charge in with Take Down!" Ash countered. Mightyena, despite being pelted by the grass type attack, charged in a tackled Nuzleaf with force.

Nuzleaf flew back and landed heavily on its back. It struggled back to its feet and smirked at Mightyena. It got into its battle stance and awaited its orders.

Mightyena was panting a bit as the collective damage from Bullet Seed and the recoil from Take Down were starting to take its toll. Ash knew that the excess damage taken could be a decisive factor in this bout. He wasn't worried though. He was confident that Mightyena could pull through.

"Your Mightyena is tough," Brendan complimented, "But is it tough enough to take this next move?"

Ash and Mightyena wait anxiously for the attack. By the sound of things, it was going to big and powerful move. However, experience had taught him to prepare for the unexpected.

"Nuzleaf, use Faint Attack!" he called. Nuzleaf started to move towards Mightyena at a slow pace, changing direction often. Mightyena watched intently as it changed direction. Suddenly, Nuzleaf vanished making Mightyena look around frantically.

Ash, too, was looking around for Nuzleaf. Said Pokémon suddenly appeared behind Mightyena and was holding up a glowing hand. Ash's eyes widened as he hastily called out a counter.

"Mightyena, jump back!"

"Too slow!" Brendan smirked, "Nuzleaf, use Brick Break!"

Mightyena turned around and jumped back but Nuzleaf was on him in a flash. With a forceful swing, Nuzleaf brought its hand down on the dark-type, successfully landing the super effective attack. Mightyena collapsed due to the force of the attack.

Ash looked upon the scene with worry as he was trying to judge Mightyena's condition. Ash wasn't at all familiar with the move Brick Break or the weaknesses dark-types possessed (since he had never owned a dark-type before and not a lot of people had them) so he unsure about the damage.

"Well, that's that," Brendan said confidently. However, as he said that Mightyena stood up quickly. He gasped, "How…"

Ash grinned at his dark-type and, being the opportunist that he is, immediately made full use of Brendan's hesitation, "Use Poison Fang!"

Mightyena's fangs gained a purple hue as he clamped down on Nuzleaf's arm. Nuzleaf winced in pain as it tried to shake the dark-type off. Mightyena hung on tighter, causing a great deal of pain.

Ash followed up, "Toss Nuzleaf away then hit it with Iron Tail!"

Mightyena, with great strength, used its grip on Nuzleaf to toss it to one side. Nuzleaf only flew a couple of yards but it was enough distance for the dark-type to manoeuvre and hit the grass-type with a glowing tail.

Nuzleaf lay on the ground, knocked out and bruised as Mightyena stood over it. It howled victoriously.

Brendan was shocked, "I can't believe Mightyena was playing possum this whole time!"

Ash, who was patting Mightyena on the head, look at him confusingly, "Playing possum?"

"When Mightyena was hit with that Brick Break, it faked being severely injured and struck when the time was right," Brendan explained, "That's a dark-type for you, always playing tricks…"

Ash mentally took note of what Brendan said and took out Mightyena's Pokéball, "Good job Mightyena, now you take a nice long rest."

Brendan returned his Nuzleaf and said, "You did great, you rest too."

On the sidelines, May was having a difficult time trying to get her Torchic to calm down. The fire-type was excited from watching the bout between the two high-level Pokémon. May herself was excited about the battle as well, although she didn't show it. Secretly, she admired Ash for his battling prowess and how natural he looked when commanding his Pokémon, even a new one. Brendan looked good as well. The brunette decided to take notes as she watched as she knew that she would have to battle on day as well; she couldn't keep avoiding it.

"Okay Pikachu, you're up," Ash said to the rodent. Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and stood in front of Ash.

Brendan threw out another Pokéball. It opened up and revealed a strange amphibian standing on its hind legs. It was light blue in colour and had an orange belly. Its head was round and it had orange gills on its cheek. It had a large fin like tail, "Marshtomp, it's time to win!"

Ash pulled his Pokédex again, **"Marshtomp: the Mud Fish Pokémon and the evolved form of Mudkip. The surface of Marshtomp's body is enveloped by a thin, sticky film that enables it to live on land. This Pokémon plays in mud on beaches when the tide is low."**

"So it's a water type," Ash said to himself, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu quickly charged up and let loose the powerful electric attack. The bolt flew through the air and scored a direct hit on the water type. Brendan smirked, however, as the attack dispersed and Marshtomp looked completely unaffected.

"What the…?" Ash said in surprise. May was surprised but didn't say anything.

Brendan chortled, "Marshtomp is also part ground-type, thus rendering electric attack useless. Looks like this bout is ours!"

"I don't think so!" Ash sneered, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu charged in at high speeds and collided with Marshtomp. The water-ground type seemed unaffected as it held its ground, causing Pikachu to bounce off.

Ash gritted his teeth in annoyance. Marshtomp was very powerful and none of Pikachu's attacks were working. His only choice was to persevere and keep up the pace.

"Right, now it's our turn," Brendan said, "Marshtomp, use Mud Shot!"

Marshtomp opened its mouth and fired multiple balls of dirt. The ball hit Pikachu with a lot of force and exploded on impact. Pikachu flew back and landed hard on its side.

"Follow it up with Tackle!" Brendan said quickly, Marshtomp charged and tackled Pikachu, making it land at Ash's feet. The rodent struggled to get up as it glared at its opponent.

Brendan continued his offence, "Now wrap this up with another Mud Shot!"

Marshtomp fired the ground attack at Pikachu. Frantically, Ash called out his defence, "Light Screen!"

At the last possible second, Pikachu generated the transparent shield and the balls crashed against it harmlessly. Ash sighed in relief and now decided to go on the offensive, "Go on with Double-edge!"

Pikachu charged in with the yellow aura surrounding it. It tackled Marshtomp with a lot of power, enough to make the tough Mud Fish skid back. Pikachu flipped off of it and landed on its feet, panting heavily.

"Use Water Gun!" the hat wearing trainer said. Marshtomp fired a torrent of water at Pikachu.

"Hold your ground!" Ash said. Pikachu was hit but stood up to the attack, "Now use Thunder!"

Pikachu sent the charge down the water torrent and into Marshtomp. Even though it was part ground type, it had the physical make up of a water type so the attack, that was shocking it from the inside, had some effect. Marshtomp was trying its best to conduct the electricity into the ground, but the damage was starting to build up.

Brendan finally realised this, "Brake off the attack!"

Marshtomp did just that and panted heavily. Pikachu was panting even heavier but stood ready to fight. Seeing this, Ash called out his next attack, "Wrap this up with Double-edge!"

Pikachu charged in with the yellow aura and tackled Marshtomp. The Mud Fish Pokémon stood its ground but still took a hefty amount of damage. Pikachu recoiled off of it and stood there on all fours. Marshtomp did the same on its hind legs. Suddenly, Pikachu collapsed from exhaustion but Marshtomp remained standing. This meant…

"Looks like we won this round," Brendan said. He called back Marshtomp, "Great work, thank you."

"Pikachu, are you alright?" Ash asked in deep concern for his best friend. He had pushed Pikachu hard in that fight with two Double-edge attacks and the rodent gave it everything it had but it wasn't enough. Pikachu nodded as Ash picked it up and cradled it in his arms. Ash breathed a sigh of relief, "That's great."

"A tie? Wow, I never expected that," May remarked as she stood up, Torchic in her arms, "Wasn't that great, Torchic?"

Torchic nodded ecstatically and squirmed around in May's arms. May managed to hold on long enough with one arm for her to take out the fire-type's Pokéball, "Maybe you should calm down in here," she said as she returned her starter.

Brendan approached Ash, outstretched his hand and said, "That was a great match."

Ash shook the hand, "Yeah it was. Your Marshtomp was really strong."

"Hey thanks," Brendan said, "Are going to compete in the Hoenn League?"

"Yeah, I plan to," Ash said, "What about you?"

"Yup, I'm going to compete as well," he confirmed, "I already have two of the eight badges."

Ash was surprised but didn't say anything. May came over and said, "Then why are you here in the forest?"

"I'm looking for a particular Pokémon that lives in this forest," Brendan explained, "Speaking of which, I need to get back to my search. It was nice meeting you both."

That said, Brendan left the two and went back into trees. Ash and May watched him leave for a while before turning to each other.

Ash then realised something, "I should've asked for directions."

May snapped her fingers, "Yeah, you should've."

The two of them sighed in unison. They collected their belongings and set off once again, in hopes of finally finding their way out of this forest.

* * *

Round about the outskirts of Rustboro City was Joaquin. He was resting up against the wall of a building, having just run through half of the city following a large guy. Naturally, he was tired. He was also frustrated that he had lost sight of the man. With an exasperated sigh he punched the wall of the building, ignoring the pain going through his hand and the blood running down his middle finger. He hated it when he couldn't successfully complete a task that has been set out for him, whether it is because of circumstance on his own personal error.

Joaquin wiped the blood on his trousers and walked out into the street. He quickly checked the time on his wrist watch and saw that it was mid—afternoon. He sighed again and set off down the path.

The Team Ozone member had told HQ of his failure to follow the man and was given new orders to continue scouting the town for any signs of Team Magma or Aqua. He hated going undercover as it was very boring and tiresome. This also meant he hated long, drawn out missions. He preferred missions that were fast paced and full of action; one where he could show off his hand-to-hand prowess. The blond prided himself on his fighting ability and longed to test it out on other people.

Joaquin shoved his hands deep into his trouser pockets and turned a corner. He passed an alleyway and heard people talking. Curious, he stopped and turned around. He hovered about the alleyway casually, eavesdropping in on the conversation.

"I can't believe we lost James in that blast-off!" a woman exclaimed. Joaquin peered in and a saw a purple haired woman in a white uniform talking to a Meowth.

To the blond's surprise, the Meowth answered in perfect English, "I can't believe we ended up all the way here, in Rustboro City!"

Bored, Joaquin left the area and continued walking down the street. He hoped something exciting would happen soon; otherwise he'd have to resort to going to an arcade, something he dreaded.

* * *

Max Maple looked at the blue haired man on his doorstep with suspicion. Beside him, Norman eyed the man carefully. The blue haired man looked nervous as he was on his knees.

"You're a part of that Team Rocket," Norman said, "I don't think we should trust you."

"Please!" the man begged, "Find it in your heart to forgive this fool and help him find his mislead friends!"

Max pushed his glasses up his nose, "I don't know, my Dad has a good point."

Norman rubbed his chin in thought, "Alright, but only on the following conditions."

"You name it!" James said, standing up in glee. Norman nodded and looked at him seriously.

"First of all, you will protect my son as he goes out to find Ash and May," Norman stated. Both Max and James looked at him with shock.

"You're trusting me with him!" they both exclaimed. Norman nodded.

"Yes," he said simply, "Secondly; once you find your friends, you bring them back here to work off the dept you owe us for breaking our roof."

James thought about it and sighed, "Fine, you have a deal."

Norman and James shook hands, "Good," he smiled and considerably tightened his grip on James' hand, causing him to wince, "But just to let you know, if you fail to fulfil these simple demands there will be a very big price to pay, am I making my self clear?"

"Crystal!" James said, nodded frantically. Norman let go of his hand and smiled.

"Good," he then addressed Max, "Go get ready, you will both leave in an hours time."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

Back with Ash and May, they were still wondering around the forest with no clue on where to go. May got fed up of Ash leading them in the wrong direction so she took point and, unfortunately, lead them in a worse direction. If possible, the two were more lost than they were before.

Ash was standing there with his hands behind his head and Pikachu on his shoulder. Pikachu had recovered from the battle and was helping out the two humans in their quest to escape the forest. Of course, Pikachu couldn't really do any better.

"So May, where do we go next?" Ash asked her. He pointed ahead of him, "Up that big cliff or down that waterfall?"

"I get it already!" May exclaimed into the afternoon sky, causing several flying Pokémon to fly away in fear.

Somehow, May had lead them to a hill. In front of them was a cliff with a small waterfall, and behind them was another small waterfall that led to ground level. The river was quite slow and gentle and looked clean enough to drink from.

"Maybe if we had a better view point we could see which way we need to go," Ash suggested. May nodded.

"How about we climb up that cliff and then up a tall tree? That should work," she said.

"Alright, let's do it," Ash said.

The two climbed up the cliff and quickly spotted a tall tree. Fortunately, the tree looked to be dead and had no leaves, making vision a bit easier.

"So, do you want to climb or should I do it?" Ash asked her. Hoping to redeem herself in some way, May said she will climb up. With a little boost from Ash, May climbed onto the lowest branch and slowly made her way up. When she got as high as she could go, she looked out around her and saw the tops of lots of trees and could spot a river running through the forest.

"I think we need to go that way!" she exclaimed, pointing in the direction of a town she could see in the distance.

"Great, then let's go!" Ash called up to her. May made her way down the tree but her foot slipped, causing her to lose balance and fall straight into…

Ash's waiting arms. The raven head had reacted quickly and positioned him self to take the catch. May opened her eyes, having closed them in fear on the way down, and saw that she was not on the floor. She sighed in relief.

"Nice catch," she complimented Ash. He smiled down at her.

"Falling out a tree and landing on the floor hurts," Ash said, "Trust me, I know…"

Ash set her down but she slipped on the damp grass. She fell into Ash and made him fall over straight into the river behind them. Ash, May and Pikachu screamed as they were carried off down the river and plummeted down the waterfall.

It was a relatively short swim as Ash, May and Pikachu swam to shore. They flopped down onto the grassy floor.

"Just great, I'm all soaked," May complained. Pikachu shook itself dry, much to Ash's misfortune as he was sitting next to it. Suddenly, both Ash and May's stomach rumbled, "Now I'm hungry again…"

A breeze then blew past them, causing them both to shiver, "Its cold! We should probably set up camp!"

Cold, hungry and wet, the two travellers sat there in the late afternoon sun, hoping to have some good luck sometime in the near future.

* * *

Here is the end of Chapter five.

I decided that Brendan will be Ash's rival. Why? It means that I don't have to design another OC. I'm just using a pre-existing character that didn't get any screen time in the anime.

As usual, I'll leave you with the tile of the next chapter: "Crime Teams! The Forest Showdown!"

Please take some time out to review.


	6. Crime Teams! The Forest Showdown!

Good morning/day/evening to you all! You know the drill by now, here is chapter six!

I see that a few people were looking forward to Max-free story, which is fine with me. I have my reasons for including him (reasons which I will not disclose). I hope that no one stops reading this story because of his inclusion; though I may just be paranoid…

Now regarding any asked (or unasked) questions about Brendan: basically, Brendan is a template of a character that just needs a personality; therefore, he is very flexible as a character. My aim is to, hopefully, develop a character whose personality is a blend of both Ash's (the spirited trainer) and Gary's (the intelligent son of a famous professor) give or take a couple of personal touches. The only clue I have to his actual personality is one of the game pictures where he has a big grin on his face.

Finally, I'm not going to say anything regarding any 'ships' and will leave you, the wonderful readers of my story, to interpret things on your own.

I'm going to shut up now so enjoy the chapter!

* * *

It was early morning and James and Max were already wandering around Petalburg Forest. There was little to no interaction between the two so walking was the only thing they did. Luckily, they had made good time and had made it to the forest entrance before night fall before camping out and entering the woods early the next morning.

Max was taking the lead as he walked on, observing the wildlife with a pair of binoculars. James was behind a couple of feet, simply looking ahead of him and taking the occasional glance around for potential threats (i.e. Pokémon that attack you from out of nowhere for no apparent reason).

For him, this trip was both good and bad at the same time. The bad side was that he was mingling with a 'twerp', a smart mouthed twerp, and that he was basically being threatened into doing so. The good side was that he had one of the best meals he has had in a while, Max knew where he was going and he didn't have a short fuse (so short she might as well not have one, he thought) or bossiness of his supposed closest friend, (who is human) Jessie.

In Max's point of view, it was more good than bad. Despite his criminal status, James didn't seem at all dangerous and was generally a very friendly person. He also found that he had little self-esteem and no back bone; most likely from taking orders for the majority of his life. Overall, he didn't mind the person that was 'protecting' him or the surrounding area. In fact, he was perfectly capable of travelling by himself. He had enough common sense and a PokéNavi to guide him. The only thing preventing him from actually doing so is the fact that he had no form of protection; in the other words, no Pokémon. He would have to wait another two years before he is legally allowed to own and train Pokémon.

The only sound being made between them was the sound of chirping flying-types and the wind. Both of them preferred it that way, really.

James then thought he heard some rustling in the bushes, but put it off thinking it was just some Pokémon looking for food. What James failed to see though was the pair of eyes observing them and the blue bandana sticking out from within the bush.

* * *

In a small camp that was set up next to a river, May awoke to the sound of grunting. She rubbed her eyes tiredly before sitting up in her sleeping bag slowly. She looked over to where Ash was sleeping, or slept, and saw an empty sleeping bag. She noticed his backpack was on top of the sleeping bag, wide open and half empty. The brunette looked around a bit more and saw that his shirt and jumper were still on the washing they had set up the night before. Her own clothes were hanging there, looking dry but a little dirty.

She looked to the other side and saw the boy, shirtless; doing what looked to be push-ups. A little further down the stretch of grass they were camping on were Pikachu and Mightyena, running up and down the stretch with strange belts tied around their waists.

May finally sat up and watched them for a second. She said, "What are you all doing?"

Ash, taking notice of her, stopped his push-ups and got to his feet. For the first time in her relatively short life, May saw a boy her age topless. She couldn't help but stare at his lightly muscled yet defined figure with a six-pack and all (the same way a boy would stare at a girl's chest if the positions were reversed). She turned slightly pink and looked away.

The raven head wiped his forehead with his arm and answered her, "A little morning exercise. We're just finishing up, actually."

May noticed two dumbbell-like weights resting on the ground, "With weights?"

Ash nodded, "They were a gift from a really awesome trainer, along with some really good advice."

"What advice was that?" May asked, her interest piqued.

"He said that a trainer should train with his Pokémon and keep in good physical shape," Ash explained, "I think he mentioned something about a healthy diet as well, anyway; I do light weight training every morning and so do my Pokémon."

"Oh, so those belts are weights?" May said, pointing to the two running Pokémon. Ash nodded.

"I have ankle and wrist weights as well," Ash said, "We usually run around the camp with the weights on before doing a couple of light exercises."

"Wow, I wonder why I never noticed," May mused.

"I usually get up pretty early," Ash said, "I'm done by the time you wake up; you like to sleep in, anyway."

"Oh right," the brunette started to get out of her sleeping bag, "I'm going to go get changed. Don't even think about peeking!"

Ash put his hands up defensively, "Don't worry, I won't! I've got to go wash up, anyway."

By the time May came back out from behind the tree she used as a make shift curtain, Ash had already cleaned himself up, gotten dressed and cleared away the majority of the camp. The stuff left was May's personal belongings.

May quickly put her stuff away in her back pack and checked the contents of her fanny pack. With that task done, she turned to Ash and said, "So what about breakfast?"

Ash thought about it and then shrugged, "We'll have to find some fruit or something along the way."

May gasped, the concept of not having breakfast was a very foreign one indeed.

"Sorry," Ash said, walking up to her, "Stuff like this happens when you travel."

May sighed, "And we still have to find our way out of this forest."

"Right, do you still remember the way we need to go?" Ash asked her, adjusting his cap slightly. Pikachu got comfortable on his shoulder and Mightyena stood at his side. Ash decided to leave the dark-type out, figuring its strong sense of smell could help them locate something edible.

"I think it's that way," May said, pointing in a certain direction. She then pointed in another direction, "Or is that way?"

Ash fell over in a comical way, "You mean you forgot?"

"I swear it was this way," May said, pointing in an entirely different direction. Ash, Pikachu and Mightyena sighed in unison. Things were seemingly going from bad to worse.

"Why don't we just walk in a straight line and see where we end up," Ash suggested.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually," May said, brightening up.

"Really?" Ash said in surprise. He wasn't entirely serious about the idea but now thought it was the best option they had right now, "Alright, let's go then."

* * *

Back with Max and James, the eight year old was looking at his PokéNavi and working out the best route to take. They had covered a good distance and were around the forest centre. According to the satellite interpreted map on the LCD screen of the device, there was a river not too far from here that led to a rather desolate and rocky area, so following the river (which travelled in a straight line) was not a very good idea.

The best way, he worked out, was to keep following the dirt trail that was there to guide travellers through the forest and directly into the city.

James was staring at bush that was on the side of the path. Ever since he had that rustling he has been on edge and has been constantly jumping at every sound. He could've sworn that there was something out of place, as if something was following him. He was trained to be a criminal, and therefore was trained to be aware of anyone who follows him.

"Okay, let's go this way," Max said, pointing down the path. James nodded and followed him down the path. After a minute or two of walking, James got fed up of the constant rustling in the bushes beside them.

"Will whoever is in there come out here already!" he screamed. His voice echoed throughout the forest. Everything went silent for a while as nothing happened.

"What are you talking about, James?" Max asked him incredulously, "There's no one in those bushes."

"But I swear there is someone, or something!" James protested. Max raised an eyebrow at the man's behaviour and then shrugged.

"Well whatever, let's keep going," he said and walked off again. James looked at the bushes for a while before sighing and walking off.

* * *

"Wow, great idea Ash," May remarked as she stared at the gigantic rocky face in front of her. Ash shrugged.

"You went along with it," he said. He was looking at his guide book or more specifically, the map of the region in an attempt to find out where to go. The attempt was futile, however, since the map only showed a dot to represent the forest.

May sighed and turned around to lean against the rock, "I really hate this place."

"Yeah, but we have to keep going," Ash encouraged.

"We'll probably be stuck in here forever," she said. Ash looked at her incredulously.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way out," Ash reassured, "We can't be too far of. We did cover quite a bit of distance."

May looked around and saw that the river turned off to the right, running right up against the cliff. An idea came to her, "Maybe we should keep following the river."

"I guess that's the best option we have," Ash said, "We'll have to cross over it though."

"It looks narrow," May observed, "I think we can jump over."

Before the two could jump over, a loud bang echoed throughout the forest. Ash and May jumped and turned around. They saw a man in a red and grey uniform, glaring at them and holding a handgun in the air. Both travellers froze.

"What do you want?" Ash asked, finally finding his voice again. The man chuckled.

"You're the same kid who put me in prison," he said, pointing the gun at Ash. The Kanto native froze on the spot even though this wasn't the first time someone has pointed a gun at him, "My cohorts and I have been looking for some revenge."

"For what? Putting you in the place where you belong?" May snapped bravely. The man pointed the gun at her and it was her turn to freeze up.

"Be quiet if you know what's good for you!" the man ordered.

Mightyena started growling at the man but he shot the ground in front of it, shutting it up immediately. He slowly started to come closer. Ash moved in front of May and stared somewhat fearfully at the man's hooded face.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man with a blue bandana tackled the Team Magma member to the ground. They wrestled around for a while before the newcomer punched him in the face. He skilfully disarmed him and pointed the gun at his head.

"So Team Magma is threatening kids now? How low can you go?" the man with the blue bandana sneered. He had longish blond hair and sharp icy blue eyes. He wore a blue and white striped shirt that was tight with a pair of blue trousers.

"Heh, how typical is it of Team Aqua to put their noses in where they don't belong," the Team Magma member said back. The Team Aqua stamped onto the man's chest and held his foot there.

"It's always our business when Team Magma is involved," he said.

"Ash, we need to get out of here," May said fearfully. Ash nodded slowly, recalled Mightyena, and the two quickly snuck away. They jumped over the river and ran down the side of it. The Team Aqua member eyed them for a moment before looking back at the smirking face of the Team Magma member.

The man in red gripped the man in blue's ankle and tossed him over. He stamped on the man's wrist, forcing him to let go of the weapon, and picked up said weapon. He then quickly gave chase to Ash and May. The Team Aqua member recovered quickly and gave chase as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, Max and James had just arrived at the forest exit but came face to face with an unwelcome surprise. The entire exit was blocked off by two blue vans and several men and women in white and blue clothing. Each one had a blue bandana on their head.

A woman in a blue vest, trousers and a black shirt was talking on a communication device. She, like everyone else, had a blue bandana that covered her red hair.

"Commander Shelly here, reporting in," the woman said, "We have sent in some men to flush out the last of the Team Magma members. We are just about to begin phase one of our plan."

Max and James made sure to stay well out of sight by hiding behind a tree. Surprisingly, there were three other people there as well. Two of them James knew very well.

"Jessie, Meowth!" he exclaimed as he hugged his companions. They hugged back and said something about blast offs and teams. The other person with them, a blond teen, shushed them quickly.

"What's going on here?" Max asked the lot of them. James looked at his companions, who shrugged and then looked at the blond.

The blond, who was crouched down on one knee, spoke, "My name is Joaquin and I'm a member of Team Ozone."

"Team Ozone?"

"Yes and my goal is stop the plans of Team Aqua," he said.

"What is Team Aqua up to?" Max asked.

"That I don't know," Joaquin said, "Rumour has it that there's an ancient relic hidden in this forest; it could be something to do with that. Anyway, I require your assistance."

"Our assistance?"

"Yes, there is a reason why I told you two to come with me," Joaquin said to Jessie and Meowth who looked at him quizzically, "For my plan to work, I need a distraction. A big one."

"Why would we do that?" Jessie asked suspiciously.

"I found your friend, didn't I?" Joaquin asked rhetorically, jerking his thumb in James' direction, "Granted, my original intent was to lie to you in order to get you to follow me."

"Why you little…"

"But," the blond quickly interjected, "I found your friend, just like I promised, regardless if I was lying or not. So you owe me."

Jessie growled but sighed, "Fine, you win."

"What kind of distraction do you want?" Meowth asked him. Max gawked at the talking Pokémon but knew not to say anything.

"One that can distract the lot of them long enough for me to gain control of one their vans," Joaquin explained.

"Wait, how does that stop their plan?" Max asked him confusedly.

"All their equipment is in their vans, including a couple of captured Team Magma members," the blond explained, "I have back-up waiting to take the other van. The police from Rustboro City are also on their way."

Team Rocket had a quick meeting to strategize before running out of their hiding place. They began to recite their motto very loudly, causing the large group of Team Aqua members to look over at them. Joaquin quickly addressed Max.

"Kid, wait here until everything dies down," he instructed them, "That guy you were travelling and his friends will be fine. You'll be able to continue doing whatever it was you were doing after this, okay?"

Max nodded at him. Joaquin began to sneak through the bushes until he was directly behind a Team Aqua member. He silently snuck up on him and hit a point on his neck. He then quickly covered his mouth before the man could scream out and then let him fall to the floor, out cold. With a nod, Joaquin advanced towards the van that was a couple of yards away.

He looked though one of the windows and saw two Team Magma members knocked out and tied up. He then looked towards Team Rocket. The trio had resorted to battling with their Pokémon and were grossly outnumbered. Commander Shelly flicked her hair and started to walk towards the vehicle.

Joaquin quickly spun around the other side. Unluckily for him, Shelly also went around to his side. There wasn't enough time for him to get away.

Shelly eyed him with contempt before smirking, "My, haven't you grown up," she mocked.

Joaquin tightened his fist as she continued, "So, little Alejandro, do you think you can knock out one of my men without me knowing? I did see you, after all."

Joaquin said nothing. Instead, he lashed out with a high roundhouse kick but Shelly ducked. The blond span round and went for a roundhouse to head with the same leg, but she blocked it with her forearm. They held that position.

"You haven't lost your touch," she said. Joaquin smirked.

"No, I've only built upon it," he said, "And by the way: it's Joaquin, not Alejandro!" He jumped back and then quickly shuffled forward. He lunged out with high side kick that connected with Shelly's chin. She fell back and landed into something, or rather, someone.

She looked up and saw a bald man grinning down at her, "Why hello there, little lady," he said. Shelly tried to get away but the man grabbed and picked her up. He then, with no effort, threw her over the vehicle and, by the sound of things, into a few Team Aqua members.

"Nice throw," Joaquin complimented.

Kyoku patted his chest proudly, "What did you expect."

"Right, where's Rouge?" the blond asked. Kyoku pointed to the other vehicle. Joaquin turned around and saw Rouge, sitting in the driver's seat and looking very bored, "She works fast."

"She does," Kyoku said. He walked over to the vehicle door and opened it. The guy sitting in the driver's seat gasped in surprise as he was pulled out and chucked to the side. The giant got in and Joaquin followed.

After playing around with the controls for a bit, Kyoku managed to start up the vehicle. He gave a signal to Rouge and she returned one. She suddenly drove off. Kyoku put his foot down on the accelerator and drove off also.

"I wonder if this thing has any nitro." Kyoku said, grinning widely. Joaquin, who was in the only passenger seat, looked out of the window and saw some Team Aqua members were catching up to them.

"It needs some," he said, "This thing is so slow! Team Aqua have already caught up."

"Why don't you use this?" Kyoku, still grinning as held up a shotgun rifle. Joaquin raised an eyebrow.

"Where did you get that?"

"I don't know, it was here when I got in," the big man shrugged.

"I'm not shooting anyone," Joaquin said defiantly. Kyoku rolled his eyes.

"Fine, then you drive and I'll shoot," he proposed. Joaquin nodded and, somehow, the two changed seats. Kyoku fired a few shells and laughed heartedly, "Haha, take this bitches!" (There's already guns and violence, I don't see the point in censoring out one little swear word).

Joaquin really had no idea how to work this vehicle so he decided to just keep his foot on the accelerator and hope for the best. He then quickly realised that the vehicle was going straight for a river. He nervously put his hands on the wheel and turned it in different directions numerous times. The truck swerved as it sped on, nearly causing Kyoku to fall out the open door window.

"Holy crap, watch where you're driving!" Kyoku exclaimed.

"Kyoku, you drive!" Joaquin yelled.

"Why?!"

"Because we're about to go into a river and I can't drive! That's why!" the blond exclaimed as he and Kyoku again, somehow, swapped places. The bald giant rolled his eyes again.

"You're no good."

"Just shut up and drive!" Joaquin snapped. Kyoku grinned and suddenly stamped his foot down on the break whilst turning the wheel sharply. The truck skidded to a halt just side on of the river bank. Joaquin and Kyoku breathed a sigh of relief. They then heard the sound of something crashing into the side of the vehicle. Joaquin looked out the window and saw that a couple of Team Aqua members had run into the steel truck, face first.

The whole of Team Aqua had chased after them, including Shelly, and were wielding numerous fire arms. They surrounded the vehicle.

"Come out with your hands up!" Shelly ordered. Joaquin and Kyoku looked at each other.

"Looks like we've run out of luck," the giant said, slapping the steering wheel.

"Hey, we have a gun as well, you know," Joaquin reminded him.

"Oh yeah," Kyoku said. It was Joaquin's turn to roll his eyes. Kyoku picked up said gun and cocked it. However, he came across some disturbing news, "Uh oh…"

"What is it?"

"We're out of ammo," Kyoku said, holding up the empty gun. Joaquin slapped his head.

"But they don't need to know that," he said quickly. The two got out of the truck and stood side by side. Kyoku pointed the gun at Shelly.

"Don't shoot or I'll shoot!" he said threateningly. The statement didn't effect them however, since they were outnumbered by about twenty to two.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, police cars skidded onto the scene. Police officers, including Officer Jenny's with Growlithe and Arcanine, stepped out and pointed fire arms at everyone.

One of them on a megaphone said, "Everyone drop your weapons! You are all under arrest!"

"Geez, they even have the SWAT team and everything!" Kyoku exclaimed. Joaquin shrugged, not really caring anymore. It's bad enough that their plan was a complete failure.

Shelly signalled to several members of Team Aqua and suddenly dived into the water. Some Police officers went to chase after them but saw that they were a lost cause. They moved in to arrest the remaining members of Team Aqua. A couple moved in on Kyoku and Joaquin.

"I won't be needing this anymore!" Kyoku said and threw the gun at someone. It clashed with that someone's head, knocking him out, "Haha, bull's-eye!"

Joaquin moved away from one of the officers and kicked him in the head, knocking him out. Several men than jumped on him, quickly restraining him and Kyoku with handcuffs.

As they were being put in a SWAT van, Joaquin noticed that Team Rocket and Max being put into a police car. He called out, "Hey, those guys didn't do anything! Why are you taking them in?"

"They were involved in the fight so we're taking them in for questioning," one of them explained, "Now; you have the right to remain silent!"

Joaquin snorted as he was seated on a bench. Kyoku was sat on the other bench and the doors were shut on them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ash and May were resting up in a clearing. They had ran quite a distance and over a very long time. They were both very out of breath and also frightened.

"I think we lost him," Ash said.

"I hope so," May said, "I was so scared back there."

"Yeah, me too," Ash agreed. May shook her head.

"I heard about the teams Magma and Aqua but didn't think they were this dangerous," she said, "I hope we never run into them again."

Ash nodded in understanding, "We can only hope," he said, "We need to keep moving. Who knows where those guys are."

"You're right," May said, catching her breath somewhat. The events of the day had rattled her, which was the most natural thing to happen after having a gun pointed at you by a guy who was looking to kill them, or something. Thankfully, that member from Team Aqua had intervened just in time. Where they were the two didn't know, but they could only hope that they were fighting each other.

"Hey May, we found the main pathway!" Ash said in joy. May looked at the floor and saw the dirt trail that was there to guide travellers.

"Thank Mew!" she exclaimed, "Finally, some luck!"

"About time, too," Ash said, "If we follow this path, we can get out of this forest."

"Oh, I can't wait!" May said eagerly, "This forest thing is getting old."

The set off down the path in high spirits now that things were finally looking up. However, they didn't expect to a large man in a green suit to run into them.

The man was panting heavily and was literally gasping for breath. After regaining some, he looked up at the two with wide eyes. He suddenly grabbed hold of Ash's jumper and shook him.

"You have to help me!" he said frantically, "There's a Tailow chasing after me!"

"A what?" Ash questioned.

"I think he means that," May said, pointing to a small navy blue and white bird flying towards them at high speeds.

Ash pulled out his Pokédex, **"Tailow: the Tiny Swallow Pokémon. Tailow will courageously stands its ground against foes, however strong they may be. This gutsy Pokémon will remain defiant even after a loss. On the other hand, it cries loudly if it becomes hungry." **

The Tailow swooped in and everyone ducked. It swooped back in again and the trio ducked again.

"Why is it chasing after you?" May asked the man.

"I tried to take some of its food!" the man answered, "Tailow love food and absolutely hate it when someone tries to take it away from them. They also like to chase people with food on them!"

"Do you have any food on you?" Ash asked.

"Thankfully, no!" the man said happily.

The Tailow flew close to the ground at an angle, its wing glowing white. Pikachu jumped out in front of them and used Thunderbolt. The Tailow was stopped in its track but when the attack was over, it only glared at Pikachu and flew in once more.

"That didn't work?!" Ash exclaimed, "Use Thunderbolt again!"

Pikachu used the same attack and gained the same result. It was shocked as well as everybody else. It sidestepped the flying type but the Tailow caught it by the tail. It began to lift Pikachu off of the ground.

"Use Thunder!" Ash called. Pikachu unleashed the powerful attack but the Tailow shook it off, though it was definitely looking a little worse for wear. Ash was in awe of the flying type, "A flying type that can withstand electric attacks… I've got to catch it!"

"You better hurry because it's closing in on us!" May exclaimed. The Tailow had dropped Pikachu to the ground and was coming back in for them. Ash reacted quickly.

"Pikachu, use Double-edge!" he called. Pikachu tackled Tailow fiercely, causing the Tiny Swallow Pokémon to fall to the ground. Ash took this chance to throw an empty Pokéball at it. The ball shook a couple of times before sitting still, signalling that the capture was successful. Ash sighed in relief as he placed his new capture on his belt.

"Thank Mew that's over," the man said.

"Just who are you?" May asked.

"I'm a researcher from the Devon Corporation," he introduced himself, "I was being chased by a Team Aqua member but I eventually lost him. I then winded up here and got myself on the bad side of that Tailow you just caught."

"Oh, okay," May said.

"Thank you for saving me," the researcher said to Ash, "In return, I'll take you to Rustboro City."

"Really? That would be awesome!" May said. Ash voiced his agreements.

"Yeah, we really appreciate that," he said.

That being said, the three set off down the path with, hopeful that they will finally leave this forest and arrive in Rustboro City.

* * *

End Chapter Six.

I apologize to anyone who was offended by the scenes of violence, gun violence, cursing and implied death.

Nothing else to say really other than:

Please take some time out to review and…

Next time: "Finally! We're out of here!"


	7. Out of the Forest Into the City

After a brief delay, Chapter Seven is finally here. I hope you enjoy this chapter! See you at the bottom!

* * *

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Ash, May and the man from the Devon Corporation are right in the thick of the action as Pikachu unleashed the electric charge, aiming to hit a green gecko-like creature. The creature was very quick and agile and was able to avoid the powerful attack by hopping from tree to tree. It responded by diving out of the tree, leaving behind a blazing trail, and swatting Pikachu away with its overly-large tail.

Pikachu landed with a 'thud' but quickly got back into position, growling in frustration as sparks flew out of its cheeks. The green Pokémon smugly folded its arms across its chest and leant against a tree. It reached up and snapped a twig off before placing it in its mouth.

Ash was equally as frustrated as Pikachu. The gecko-like Pokémon was very quick and immensely difficult to hit. He had to get in close but the Pokémon was skilled at tree jumping and could attack from just about any angle.

The Kanto native was then struck with an idea. He told Pikachu to fall back, much to its confusion, and threw out a Pokéball. The ball opened and revealed his newly obtained Tailow. The Tiny Swallow Pokémon chirped loudly as it glared at its opponent.

"Tailow be careful," he warned it, "That Treecko is fast and can attack from just about anywhere!"

Tailow looked back at Ash and nodded its head in understanding. As a flying-type, Tailow was a much better match for the Treecko as it too could attack from anywhere, had great speed and a type advantage.

"Hit it with Wing Attack!" Ash called. Tailow sped in with a glowing wing but Treecko hopped to another tree, thus avoiding the attack, "Keep on it!"

Tailow kept up its pursuit by turning around in mid-air and chasing the grass-type down. The Treecko then hopped over it onto another tree. Tailow followed and the same happened again. This time, when the Tiny Swallow Pokémon came close, it was hit by the Trecko's tail for a Pound attack.

Tailow started to descend to the ground but quickly recovered and climbed out of its steep dive. It flew towards the grass-type again, this time multiplying as several copies of Tailow appeared around it. Ash immediately recognised the attack and adapted.

"Use Quick Attack!" he called. All of the Tailow charged in at very high speeds. Treecko was unsure on how to dodge the attack but hopped to another tree regardless; just what Ash wanted, "Wing Attack!"

The copies suddenly disappeared and Tailow appeared right in front of the grass-type. It swooped in and struck it with a glowing wing, landing the super effective attack and making it fall off of the branch.

"Don't let up!" Ash called, "Hit it with Peck!"

Tailow dive bombed Treecko and started pecking it rapidly with its beak. Treecko tried to shield itself but it was useless. It soon crashed into the ground.

Treecko stood up and winced in pain. It then spat its twig at Tailow. The flying-type moved out of the way but the Treecko then tackled it with Quick Attack. The grass-type then descended with Tailow and hit it with a Pound attack just before the flying-type hit the ground.

Tailow slowly picked itself off of the ground. With its own determination and Ash's encouragement, Tailow hovered in the air and cried a loud determined cry. Treecko had gotten over the initial shock of its opponent getting up and prepared to face its foe once more, ignoring the fact that it was both injured and drained. It then sped in towards Tailow with the intention of ending this once and for all.

Seeing this, Ash quickly called out an attack, "Wing Attack!"

Tailow swooped in with its wings glowing. It brought its wing round, looking to swat Treecko with it but the agile grass-type jumped up at the last second. Treecko then flipped in mid-air and brought its tail down on the flying-type. Tailow quickly span out of the way and flew around Treecko, looking for the right angle to attack from.

Ash, not giving a second thought about any possible angles, called out his next attack, "Peck attack!"

Tailow did not attack immediately but looked for the right angle. Finding it quickly, Tailow dive bombed Treecko. It used its beak to peck Treecko and, whilst using its wings for balance, continued to do so for a make-shift Fury Attack. Treecko attempted to swat Tailow away with its arms but failed to do so. As a last ditch effort, Treecko jumped back. Unfortunately for it, Tailow didn't let up and flew towards it at high speeds. Treecko met the attack with a Pound attack, negating the damage but tiring it at the same time. Treecko then began to glow a forest green colour, much to everyone's confusion.

Ash did the only thing he could think of and that was to attack with hopes that the green glow meant nothing important, "Wrap this up with Wing Attack, Tailow!"

Tailow charged but Treecko surprisingly dodged it with ease. A green glow then surrounded one of Treecko's hands. Treecko then threw his hand forward and a thick whip of green matter appeared out of nowhere. The whip wrapped around an off-guard Tailow, glowed red for a brief moment and then dispersed. Tailow flopped to the ground, knocked out and unable to continue. Smirking, Treecko leapt into the trees and away from Ash and co.

Ash was shocked and ran over to his injured Pokémon. He checked it over for any serious injuries and, fortunately, found none. He took out Tailow's Pokéball and recalled it. With a frown, he stood up and stared in the direction that Treecko escaped in.

"What was that?" he asked, seemingly to himself.

"That was Overgrow and Absorb," said the Devon researcher, their temporary travelling companion. He and May had watched the whole battle from the sidelines. May had no idea what Treecko did either and mirrored Ash's confusion. Pikachu did so as well as he perched himself on Ash's shoulder.

"Overgrow and Absorb?"

The researcher nodded, "Overgrow is an ability that Treecko and some other grass-types have that they can call upon when they are in danger. It powers up their grass-type attacks significantly. That Treecko knew it was in trouble so it used it. It then used Absorb, a grass-type attack that sucks some of the energy out of whoever is hit by it. It was powerful enough to knock out Tailow even though the attack would usually not have much of an effect."

"Wow, that Treecko sure is something," May said, awed by the Pokémon that she considered creepy.

"All the more reason for me to catch it," Ash stated with a confidence he was practically famous for amongst those who know him. He then deflated, "Too bad it got away."

"Don't worry Ash, I'm sure we'll see it again," May said.

"I hope so," the raven head replied.

"You know, I've been thinking," May said as the three began walking down the forest path. Ash looked her inquiringly.

"About what?"

"About perhaps catching a Pokémon my self," she said, "Since… that's what trainer's do, right?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded, "The journey becomes a whole lot more fun if you have more Pokémon and catching another Pokémon is like making a new friend."

"Ah, reminds me of when I used to be a trainer," the researcher said reminiscently, "My girlfriend and I braved a lot of regions together for many years before settling down and starting our own family. Heh, seeing you two reminds me of our journey."

"Except, she's/he's not my boy/girlfriend," Ash and May both pointed out at the same time. The researcher just chuckled and then got lost in his memories.

"Anyway," Ash said, "Do you know what Pokémon you want to catch?"

"Um… the first thing I see, probably," May admitted, "I really haven't thought about any specific Pokémon."

"Okay, then how about that one?" Ash suggested. May followed the direction of Ash's point and saw a red and white caterpillar of sorts. It had thick lips and small yellow legs. It also had two yellow pins standing at attention at the bottom of its back.

"It's cute. What is it?" May said as she took out her Pokédex. She opened up the device and pointed it at the oblivious bug (oblivious to them). A picture of it appeared on the LCD screen of the Pokédex and a pre-recorded voice recited the info it had.

"**Wurmple: the Worm Pokémon. Using the spikes on its rear end, Wurmple peels the bark off of trees and feeds on the sap that oozes out. This Pokémon's feet are tipped with suction pads that allow it to cling to glass without slipping." **

"Alright, I'm going to catch it," May said, taking out Torchic's Pokéball. Ash briefly smiled as she made the right move instead of throwing an empty Pokéball like last time, though Ash remembers clearly that he caught his first Pokémon by doing just that. He noted that this scenario was similar.

In a matter of seconds, May had called out her energetic fire-type and was ready to take on the bug-type. The Wurmple had yet to notice them so May attacked first.

"Torchic, use Peck," May called out, a lot more confidently than last time. Torchic ran in and landed the super effective attack; the Wurmple was just too slow to evade.

There was no time for celebrations though as the Wurmple quickly responded by shooting out a long line of sticky string. The string wrapped around Torchic, thereby immobilizing the fire type. The bug-type then started to charge in as fast as it little legs could carry it.

"Ember, quickly!" May called out. Torchic opened its beak and shot out multiple little fire balls. Wurmple was struck by each one; once again being struck by a super effective attack. Wurmple fell on to its side and was unable to get up. Seizing this moment, May threw out a Pokéball and it sucked the bug-type inside.

"I sure hope this works," May said hopefully. The ball continued to wobble for a whole minute before finally stopping. May breathed out a sigh of relief. She then cheered, "I caught my first Pokémon!"

Torchic tried to celebrate with its trainer but couldn't because of the web. May noticed this and helped the fire-type out by removing the stick thread. With that task done, she congratulated and thanked Torchic before calling it back into its ball. She pocketed both Pokéballs.

"That was great, May," Ash praised, "A great improvement from last time."

"Thanks Ash," she responded with a bright smile, "Let's just say I was taking notes."

Ash cocked an eyebrow in confusion but then shrugged, "Alright, let's keep moving. I think we're nearly out of here…"

The Devon researcher snapped out of his strange state of mind and pointed ahead of him, "If we continue to follow that path, we'll be out of here in a couple of hours."

"Finally," both Ash and May said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rustboro City was full of activity and was abuzz with the news of the recent capture of several Team Aqua members. News reporters had a field day as many people rejoiced at the recent success. Everyone was in high hopes that these organisations could be stopped before they could cause any major damage.

The only people that weren't in a good mood were Joaquin and Kyoku. The two Team Ozone members were locked up in a temporary holding cell in Rustboro City's Police Department (RPD). Considering that the arrested Team Aqua members had been transported to a prison camp in Mauville City, these two were lucky. According to RPD officials, the charges against the teen and the giant were not serious enough to warrant a long-term containment and therefore, the need to send to off the prison camp was unnecessary.

The RPD only had one holding cell that was designed to hold people for a short period of time. The crimes these people committed were usually minor; some common examples being thievery, speeding and assaulting others. Serious crimes such as burglary, murder and GTA (Grand Theft Auto) brought about a trial and then an imprisonment in the Mauville City Prison Camp.

Joaquin and Kyoku were charged with assaulting two RPD officers through means of physical violence. There was speculation of further charges being pressed against Kyoku for the use of fire arms and was supposedly responsible of the near fatal injuries inflicted on a number of Aqua members. However, there was no evidence to support this as the fire arm was found empty. The RPD also considered charging the two for the disfiguration of several Aqua member's faces but it was later discovered that the injuries were a product of circumstance and self-inflicted.

The time of imprisonment was roughly two weeks. Prior to release, Joaquin and Kyoku were to be monitored for one month via the use of modern technology; more specifically satellites and tracking devices, thought the two will still undergo visual monitoring (as in, RPD members observing them personally).

Their Team Ozone uniforms had been confiscated for further investigation so the two were dressed in other clothes. Joaquin was wearing the same clothes he wore while he was undercover, minus the sweatshirt. Kyoku had on a simple pair of blue jeans and a black tank top (arguably two tank tops sowed together). Kyoku was lying down on one of the beds in the cell, flicking through a magazine that he always kept in his jean pocket. Surprisingly, the magazine hadn't been confiscated yet – yet being predominant word as RPD officers were currently busy with the interrogation of Team Rocket and Max Maple.

Joaquin was leaning against the iron bars of their cell, observing the interrogation that was going on in front of him. The ones undergoing the questioning were connected to a lie detector. The blond could see how terrified Max was and almost felt guilty for bringing him into this, although Max didn't do anything other than sit there. Team Rocket weren't as scared but was showing visible signs of nervousness.

The Team Ozone members had nothing to be afraid, though. To their knowledge, Team Rocket and Max knew nothing about them and their organisation. The only thing they knew were the details of their most recent assignment – stop Team Aqua. If anything, that was a good deed so there was always the possibility of their sentence being shortened.

About thirty minutes later the interrogation was done and Max's parents had been contacted; they would be in Rustboro City by tonight.

Jessie of Team Rocket walked up to Joaquin and laughed right in his face, "So what does it feel like to be stuck behind bars?"

"It blocks me off from you, so I feel absolutely wonderful," Joaquin remarked.

Jessie growled, "You're lucky that these bars are here!"

"All the more reason to be happy," the blond replied. Jessie growled, "You know, you remind of a certain animal that is usually kept behind bars."

"That does it!"

"Will you guys shut up?!" Kyoku yelled above them, "I'm trying to read here!"

"Hey, this is between me and him!" the purple haired woman said, pointing at the blond, "So butt out!"

Kyoku didn't like that, so he stood up and walked over to Jessie who was scared of the sheer size of the man, "Whatever involves him involved me, got it?" he said whilst cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah…," she answered.

"All of you be quiet!" a raised voice said above everyone. It was the RPD officer sitting behind the desk in the room. He was also the head of the department, "You three (he pointed to Team Rocket), scram! You're not needed here anymore."

Team Rocket walked off, grumbling. The officers then addressed the two in the cell, "And you two have a right to remain silent. Blondie, stop insulting the public or you'll be in here longer. Big guy, hand me the magazine."

Kyoku mumbled something as he handed the guard his magazine. Joaquin said something unidentifiable; even to Kyoku who was standing right next to him. The guard eyed the blond for a moment before stalking off and placing the magazine in one of the desk drawers.

"You know," he continued, "We found something interesting in your uniform."

Joaquin said nothing. In fact, he wasn't even paying attention to the guard. Instead, he was getting himself comfortable on his bed. The guard banged his nightstick against the bars, creating a loud noise.

"Pay attention to me when I'm talking to you!" he snapped. He pulled a card out of his pocket, "We found this ID card. It says: Jo A Quinn aged eighteen. Care to explain?"

Joaquin sat up and stared at the card for a while before shrugging his shoulders, "A gift from a friend of mine. I've never actually used it."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" the guard interrogated.

"I'm a kid, and kids always tell the truth," Joaquin answered.

"That's a load of crap," Kyoku grumbled.

"Look, seriously," the blond said, "You can hook me up to that lie detector if you have to, but I have never used that card in my life and I had no intention of doing so. This guy just gave it to me."

"So who is this guy?"

"Some random guy off of the streets," Joaquin answered, "I was walking down the street and he pulled me to the side, saying that he could give me this perfectly real fake ID. He handed me this card that said Jo A Quinn aged eighteen on it."

"Right, so he just happened to hand you a card with a name that happens to be a play on your own, real name?" the RPD officer said incredulously, "Put Jo A Quinn together and you get Joaquin with an extra 'n'."

"Joaquin isn't my real name," the blond said, "It's an alias I use for Team Ozone."

The guard connected the dots, "So the guy who gave you this is from Team Ozone. Someone as young as you would need this to gain access to specific things."

"Possibly, but that doesn't change the fact that I've never used it and had no intention of doing so," Joaquin said, "In other words, I don't need it. You can rip it up for all I care."

The guard did just that. He then said, "Blondie, you've lied to me for too long. For reasons that I will not disclose, I need your full, real name. Oh, and expect to be in here for a couple of extra days for lying to a police officer."

"Whatever," Joaquin said, "It's Alejandro Pareja-Xavier Joaquin."

The guard eyed him, "No, I said your real name. Not some name you made up on the spot."

"But that is my real name," the blond insisted.

"Stop lying; that's another extra day."

"I'm not lying."

"You did it again; one more day."

"No, I didn't," Joaquin glared at the officer, "You know, this is injustice. Adding on days just because you think I'm lying. There's a bloody lie detector over there, so why don't you use it."

"Because I don't need it to tell that you're lying," the guard responded, "Now, what's your real name?"

"Alejandro Pareja-Xavier Joaquin," the blond responded. The RPD officer sighed in exasperation.

"Must we go through this again?"

"I don't know, it's up to you sir," Joaquin answered. The RPD officer growled in frustration and then turned to Kyoku.

"Big guy, what's Blondie's real name?" he demanded.

"It's too long for me to remember," Kyoku answered, "Ale-something-something-something-Joaquin."

"Oh for the love of…" the guard stalked off. As he walked towards the staff room, he called out to the two, "Don't think this is over. I have a few methods that can make a person tell the truth."

"I wonder if it involves a lie detector," Joaquin mused quietly. The officer slammed the door behind him. Once he was gone, Kyoku burst out laughing.

"Man, what an idiot," he said, "I'm surprised you didn't start speaking in that native tongue of yours."

"That's because I can barely remember it," Joaquin sighed, "He'd probably give us extra days, anyway."

"It is two weeks and four days now, isn't it?" Kyoku asked. The blond nodded. Kyoku rolled his eyes, "Oh, shame."

"I know, two weeks and four days away from Team Ozone, whatever should we do?" Joaquin said in mock sadness. He then put on a serious face, "Maybe it was a mistake in the first place."

* * *

"Hey Ash, where're you going?!" May called out to the running figure of Ash.

"I'm going to catch that Treecko!" Ash called back.

"But we're right at the forest exit!" the brunette called back. She sighed once she realised that Ash couldn't hear her and that he probably wouldn't change his mind anyway. She turned to the man from Devon, "We better follow him; he might get lost."

Ash and Pikachu had sighted the same Treecko that had beaten his Tailow in a battle just as the group of three arrived at the forest exit. Immediately, Ash decided to try and catch it again. The Treecko, recognised by the twig that it had its mouth, quickly fled - obviously not fully recovered from the fight earlier in the day.

The Kanto native followed it for a couple of minutes before it stopped and spat out the twig at Ash. The raven head immediately halted and the twig planted itself in the ground at his toes. Treecko jumped out of the tree tops and looked to hit Ash with a Pound. Ash quickly rolled out of the way and plucked off Tailow's Pokéball from his belt. He threw it out and the courageous Tiny Swallow Pokémon appeared. It looked damaged and tired, but still had the ever present will to fight. Recognising each other, the two glared at each other.

In a split second, Treecko charged in with Quick Attack. Ash ordered Tailow to do the same. The two Pokémon collided, briefly struggling for dominance before Treecko hopped backwards. The grass-type then swung its large tail around for a Pound attack, but Tailow dodged by flying upwards. Treecko jumped up high to meet Tailow face to face.

"Hit it with Wing Attack!" Ash called out. Tailow swatted Treecko with a glowing wing, sending the grass-type to the ground, "Go on with Peck!"

Tailow dive bombed Treecko and pecked it multiple times as the grass-type crashed to the floor. Tailow then hovered above Treecko slightly, anxiously awaiting the outcome. Treecko got up, but Ash, Pikachu and Tailow were not surprised.

Treecko then began to glow green, signalling that it was using its Overgrow ability. Ash predicted that Absorb was coming next. But he was wrong as Treecko came in Quick Attack, scoring a direct hit. As the flying-type was falling to the ground, Treecko unleashed an Absorb attack.

"Dodge it!" Ash called frantically. Tailow straightened out and avoided the green whip right at the last second. Treecko retracted the whip and then lashed it out again. Tailow spun to avoid it, "Quick Attack!"

Tailow hit Treecko with the attack, knocking off its concentration, "Finish it up with Wing Attack!"

Tailow flew back around and hit Treecko with one of its wings. Treecko fell to the ground and tried its best to get back to its feet. It managed to get to one knee before falling back down again. Ash took out an empty Pokéball and enlarged it, "Go, Pokéball," he threw it out and it pegged Treecko on the head. The gecko was sucked inside as the ball closed and fell to the ground.

It wobbled for a couple of minutes before stopping. Ash went to pick it up but the ball started wobbling again. It seemed like hours before in finally stopped. Just to make sure, Ash waited an extra few seconds. Finally confirming the capture, Ash picked the ball up and looked at it for a moment. He knew he had caught a really good Pokémon here.

"Excellent job, Tailow," he praised the flying type, "Return."

Ash placed both Pokéballs onto his belt and Pikachu hopped back onto his shoulder. As the two walked back, they saw May and the Devon researcher run towards them. He stopped and waited as the two caught their breaths.

"Did you catch it?" May asked, recovering first. Ash grinned and nodded.

"It was tough but we pulled it off," he said.

"Great, can we get out of here now?"

"Sure, sure."

* * *

"Finally, civilisation!" May called out as she and Ash stepped into Rustboro City. The Devon researcher had left a few moments ago. He had thanked them and told them to visit the Devon Corporation.

"We should find the Pokémon Centre and book some rooms for the night," Ash said. May nodded and looked around at the assortments buildings. She then spotted something familiar.

"That looks like my Dad's car!" she exclaimed, pointing at a red sports car parked outside a medium sized building with a sign saying RPD. She studied the car further, "It is my Dad's car!"

"How can you tell?" Ash asked her, looking at the car also.

"I recognise the licence plate," she stated.

"But why are they are here?" Ash asked. She shrugged.

"I don't know, let's find out," she said. She walked towards the building. Ash followed her.

They entered it and saw that a number of people were in the middle of a conversation. Though that didn't stop May from interrupting.

"Mom, Dad, Max?" she questioned. The conversation stopped and everyone turned to face here. Caroline then suddenly enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Oh May! Thank goodness you're alright!" she exclaimed joyfully, "With everything that's been going on, we though something might have happened to you."

"Wait, what?" May asked, gasping for breath after her mother let her go, "What's going on?"

"Team Aqua appeared in the forest heavily armed," Caroline said, "Right at the time you, Ash and Max were in the forest as well."

"Oh, yeah," May said, suddenly remembering, "A guy from Team Magma and Team Aqua confronted Ash and I. He had a gun and everything…"

Caroline gasped, "Then what happened?"

"We got away while the two were fighting. We then ran into this man from the Devon Corporation and he helped us get out," May explained.

"So you weren't involved in the same scuffle Max was?" Norman chipped in. May and Ash looked at him in confusion.

"Scuffle? And why was Max in the forest to begin with?" she questioned.

"I think we all need some explanations at this point," said a man in a police uniform, "And I know just the guys to do the explaining."

He turned to a holding cell where a blond and a giant man were being held. They were lying on their respective beds lazily, occasionally yawning every now and then. The blond then noticed everyone staring.

"What? Can't we get a little privacy around here?" he asked them. The RPD officer approached them.

"You're going to explain everything that transpired in the forest," he said, "Max's family is here, and they want answers. So does the RPD, since evidence can only tell us so much."

The blond looked at everyone before sighing and standing up. Ash, who hadn't said anything, suddenly exclaimed, "I remember you! You were in Oldale Town!"

"Yes, I was," Joaquin said, recognising Ash also, "I believe you and the girl helped us out back then."

"You all know eachother?" the police officer asked.

Joaquin answered, "We've met, but we don't know eachother. We don't even know each others names."

"Alright then, start explaining," the officer demanded.

"Fine, fine, hold all your questions back until the end, okay?" Joaquin said. Everyone nodded, "Right then. Me and my partner here are both members of Team Ozone; a team that is very similar to Teams Aqua and Magma. The only difference being is that everyone knows who Aqua and Magma but not who we are.

"In order to accomplish our goal, which by the way I am not going to talk about, we need Aqua and Magma out of the way. So once we heard that Team Aqua would be doing something in Petalburg Forest, we were told to go and stop them.

"So, Team Aqua has set up their operations just at the forest exit. I hid myself in the bushes to the side, along with Jessie and a talking Meowth of Team Rocket – I lied to them in order for them to come with me. I thought they could be useful, you see. Anyway, it turns out that James, the other member of Team Rocket, and Max decided to hide themselves in the hiding place as well. I told them about my plan and, using the added leverage from James appearance, requested for their assistance. They were to play the role of distracting the Aqua members while I go and hijack one of their vehicles. I told Max to stay where he was and then continue travelling with Team Rocket after everything was over

"I had back up waiting for me some where else. We had also tipped off the police. The plan was to take the vehicles; along with a couple of captured Magma grunts, back to our HQ. These vehicles had all of Team Aqua's needed equipment, without it, they won't be able to do much.

"This is where things got out of hand. Team Rocket played their part by distracting the entire squadron of Team Aqua members. I had to fight off a couple, including the commander; who Kyoku dealt with, and we took over the vehicle. Rouge, my other back up, had successfully hijacked the other vehicle as well and set off before us.

"It turns out that the vehicle was incredibly slow, slow enough for them to catch up to us. They were carrying numerous firearms. Kyoku managed to find a rifle in the vehicle and used it as a distraction while I drove. That wasn't the best idea, however, since I can't drive and nearly drove us into a river.

"So we swapped positions again and Kyoku managed to break and turn. Several Team Aqua members ended up running into the vehicle. Our timing couldn't be better as the Rustboro Police Force arrived on the scene. Most of Team Aqua got away by diving into the river but most were caught. We were also arrested after we 'resisted'. Max and Team Rocket were taken in for questioning. And here we are now."

Joaquin took a deep breath. There was a moments silence as everyone took in what he said. He then continued, "So yes, we are partly responsible for your son ending up here in the Police Station but I can assure you that it wasn't our original intention."

"So where is Team Rocket now?" Norman asked Joaquin.

"They were told to 'scram' by mister jolly Policeman over there," Joaquin said, jerking a thumb towards the policeman who just snarled slightly. Norman sighed.

"Why was Max in the forest in the first place?" May asked.

"I'll explain this one," Norman said, "You see, Max wanted to travel with you and Ash but you two had already left and I couldn't just let him go out on his own. It just so happens that a few minutes after you left, James of Team Rocket fell through our ceiling. So I told him to travel with Max until he finds you, then come back with his friends to repair out roof. But obviously, things didn't quite work out the way I wanted them to."

"Why didn't you say anything to us before, Max?" May asked her younger brother.

"I was afraid you would say no," Max admitted, looking at the floor.

"Well Ash and I don't mind," May said, looking back at Ash who nodded, "You can travel with us if you want to. We would've said yes, anyway."

"You really mean that?" Max asked in shock. May nodded and smiled. Max suddenly hugged her, "Thanks sis!"

"But I'm a bit hesitant about letting both of you go," Caroline spoke up. May and Max looked at her in shock, "I'm worried about Teams Aqua and Magma. They're more dangerous than we originally thought."

Joaquin cleared his throat, "I don't know if this comforts you or not, but whenever Aqua and Magma show up, Ozone usually comes along and takes care of them. In fact, Kyoku and I will personally make sure that your children are safe."

"You will?"

"We will?" Kyoku suddenly questioned. Joaquin mouthed 'go along with it' to him and nodded to everyone else.

"Yes, we will," he said, "Though there is the small problem of us being locked up. But we'll be out in eighteen days, so mark that date on your calendar, or something."

"Assuming that Blondie can behave for that long," the officer said. Joaquin ignored him.

"So, do you trust us?"

"I… need to sleep on it," Caroline said. Joaquin nodded.

"It's been a long day, so we should go find a hotel," Norman said, "Let's go, everyone. Oh, and thank you for explaining everything."

"Sure, sure," the blond said. He watched as everyone left, except for Ash, who was looking in the blond's direction.

"Ash? Are you coming?"

"Yeah, just a minute!" Ash replied. He then said to Team Ozone, "I don't know about them, but for some reason I feel like I can trust you."

"It doesn't matter if you trust us or not," Joaquin shook his head, "We'll do it regardless of what anyone says. Even if our own boss says no, we'll do it."

"You would?"

"Well, let's just say that we're not on the best of terms with our boss," he said, "Besides, you helped us out in Oldale Town, and so we're just repaying the favour."

"Right," Ash nodded, "I'll see you guys later, then."

With that, he walked out . Kyoku then said to Joaquin, "He's the kid that boss keeps talking about, isn't he?"

Joaquin nodded, "I believe so."

* * *

Phew, that chapter turned to be long than expected – almost twenty-five percent longer (not including Author's Notes. Its twenty percent longer with Author's Notes). Actually, chapters will probably be around the same length from now on. Not much else to say other than that the main plot is now starting up expect more of Team Aqua, Team Magma and the enigmatic Team Ozone – specifically the dynamic duo of Joaquin and Kyoku.

Oh, a quick note about Joaquin's supposed real name. You can already tell that the name isn't ordinary and I have done that on purpose. In fact, the origin of than name (or names, I should say), have something to do with my story and its plot. In fact, I'll give you a little hint: it has something to do with Joaquin's past and origin.

I shall leave you with a little preview of the next chapter:

_Caroline has slept on it and has now made her decision, what is it? May and Caroline enjoy a shopping trip around Rustboro City while Norman and Max help Ash prepare for his upcoming Gym Battle. Meanwhile, Rouge has come to talk with Joaquin and Kyoku as more questions are asked. Just what will they talk about?__** Find out in the next instalment of " The Retold Tale of Advance Generation": "Build-up to the Gym Battle and Future Plans." **_

Until next time – Adios!


	8. The Build Up

Finally, I have updated this story after a whole month. I know there might be some confusion, but I will explain that at the end of this chapter. Enjoy the chapter, and see you at the bottom.

* * *

The entire gang consisting of Ash and the Maple Family went to bed quite early last night but slept in until late morning. With fatigue having caught up on them, Ash and May slept in till about lunch time – the comforts of a normal bed were solely missed, though Ash wasn't at all bothered in the slightest having slept in a sleeping bag or on the ground for practically two years. If anything, Ash preferred sleeping out doors. May, however, was ecstatic about the bouncy and comfortable bed the hotel had to offer and made it no secret that she wished to fold it up, put in her bag and take it with her on her inevitably long trip.

When Ash found out it was around lunch time, he literally leapt out of bed and into his clothes. In record time, he ran down to the Pokemon Centre, picked up his Pokeballs and performed his morning weight exercises in a field not too far away from the centre itself. The fact that he had skipped out on a meal never once crossed his mind; his mind was only focused on preparing for the upcoming gym battle.

Needless to say, May was roused by the ruckus caused by her travelling partner and, in stark contrast to Ash's rushing about, calmly went about her morning rituals at her own pace. After a combined meal of breakfast and lunch, Caroline reminded her daughter of the promised shopping trip. May was at her mother's side in a flash, eagerly looking forward to exploring the commercial districts Rustboro City had to offer.

Max and Norman were kindly asked to come along, but they knew that the only way they could assist them would be carrying their bags. Max shuddered at the thought of following his annoying sister around, arms full of various different bags filled with clothes, makeup and other girly stuff. He'd probably collapse after an hour; he's kid body wasn't built to handle such an exhausting task. Although Norman was better suited, he knew from past experience not to go. He didn't care about the consequences; the fact was that he'd rather not live the nightmare again.

The females were displeased with the males and even went as far as calling them 'selfish' and 'useless'. They then went on to label every male like that. Max and Norman weren't very amused by their comments and tried defending themselves and their male pride.

Away from the family dispute, the Rustboro Police Department was full of activity as Police officers swarmed the place. It was the start of a working day, after all, and many officers were taking up their posts in the department and equipping themselves the necessary equipment for their patrols. Despite Joaquin's valiant attempts of trying to stay in the land of dreams, the noise combined with the horribly uncomfortable bed made that just about impossible for him to do so. Kyoku, on the other hand, was capable of sleeping through it. It was a skill that Joaquin envied Kyoku for having and on occasion, so desperately wanted it as well.

Had the blond teen not been in a state of grogginess he would have let everybody know that their noise was not appreciated – in fact, he would let every one know that their simple being there was not appreciated and he was extremely tempted to go out there and start kicking people in the head. If it wasn't for those iron bars preventing him from doing so, there would be a lot of out cold officers littering the department floor.

Kyoku, for lack of a better word, was dead – dead to everyone and everything around him. The bed was barely able to support his enormous frame and it was a miracle that he could sleep with his head hanging off the edge. The giant would occasionally snort and mutter his desire for salted peanuts. Every so often, he would mumble incoherent phrases using a very colourful vocabulary that is best known by the younger generation of the world. Joaquin always found it humorous and always made mental notes of some words that he had never heard before.

The blond Team Ozone member stretched out his bed cramps and put on his white shirt that he had discarded the night before. Now fully dressed, the blond ran his finger through his hair as he tried to untangle the knots that had been tied over night. He winced slightly as he pulled them loose, random stands of blond falling to the floor. He was tolerable to all types of pain but something minor like the pain of having your hair pulled out always got to him. Joaquin then sniffed around and picked up a rather foul stench. He scrunched his face up in disgust and sniffed his own arm pits. The faint smell of bad body odour wafted up his nose. Hesitantly, Joaquin sniffed about where Kyoku 

was and was met with a stronger smell – a combined smell of bad body odour and one other unknown scent that should remain unknown. The blond almost fainted on the spot. The smell was vile.

The head of the Rustboro Police Department, Officer Kyle Williams, picked up on the scent as well and gagged. He put down his newspaper and cup of coffee. He walked over to the jail cell and sniffed. His face turned green and his expression twisted into one of disgust.

"Gah, Blondie! What is that smell?!" he demanded with his nose pinched. Joaquin looked at him incredulously.

"He, - he pointed to the sleeping giant -, is a forty year old man and may have a bladder problem," he explained, "I am thirteen and going through puberty. Of course it's going to smell! Did it not occur to you that two guys will naturally stink up the place if we are unable to bathe? You should really think more about this stuff _before _locking us in here, stupid."

Kyle Williams growled, "Do not insult me! Keep it up and you'll be in here longer."

"I get it, but can I ask you a question?" Joaquin didn't wait for an answer and continued, "Why are there no showers for us in this place? Do you want the department to smell like a pile of shit that has just come from a herd or Tauros and Miltank with diarrhoea? Don't tell me you enjoy that smell."

"What? Of course I don't enjoy that smell!" Kyle exclaimed, "We can't have showers for you because there is no room! We don't particularly want to see you naked either."

"Why not? I have nothing that you haven't seen before, unless you're worried that your ding-dong is not as big as you thought it was," Joaquin snorted, "Or maybe, you're a Eunuch who wishes—"

"Enough!" Kyle William interjected, "Shut up and try not to make that smell worse than it already is."

During the time of that interesting conversation, Ash and his Pokemon had finished their warm up and were ready to get down to some serious training. For once in Ash's career as a Pokemon trainer, he knew exactly what he was going to be doing during this training session. Despite the fact that Norman had neglected to mention the type of Pokemon the gym leader uses, Ash had a gut feeling that what he had planned was necessary for the battle. Ash's gut feeling usually pointed him in the direction. Since he did not know the typing, Ash needed to make sure he was prepared for anything.

The raven head wanted his Pikachu to learn Iron Tail. The addition of that move would make Pikachu's move pool a bit deeper and more flexible. Not every Pokemon was weak to electric attacks and Double Edge was too risky to use more than once or twice in a battle, especially with Pikachu's fragile defences. In order for Pikachu to learn Iron Tail, Ash intended to use his Mightyena to teach the electric type. Since the dark type already knew Iron Tail, it could easily pass down that knowledge to Pikachu. This method was certainly better than Ash guessing how Iron Tail worked – he hadn't a clue.

While Mightyena and Pikachu worked on Iron Tail, Ash planned on making sure that his new Treecko had full control over its Absorb attack. To do this, Ash wanted his Treecko to try and hit Tailow with the attack several times. This wouldn't be an easy task though since Tailow was very quick and agile. If Treecko could hit Tailow multiple times, then that would mean Treecko's Absorb attack would be faster and stronger.

Having already briefed his Pokemon on this, he told Pikachu and Mightyena to go off a distance while he observed the mock battle between Treecko and Tailow. The majority of the time, Ash didn't have to do anything except stand there and make sure everything was going along smoothly. He trusted his Pokemon enough for him to leave them to their own devices. He intervened when required, but mainly sat back and watched.

Of course, his Pokemon needed instructions on what they were doing. Treecko and Tailow waited patiently as Ash explained to them what they would be doing exactly.

"Okay guys, listen up," he said to them, "Treecko, I want you to try hit Tailow with your Absorb attack. Tailow, I'm leaving you to dodge it and counter in any way you see fit."

Both Pokemon nodded at Ash and then glared intensely at each other. The battle in the forest had not been forgotten. Treecko felt that he was better than Tailow and that Tailow had only defeated because he was weakened. If he were at one hundred percent, the result would have been different and Treecko would still be in the forest, happily living in his favourite tree.

Tailow also felt that he was better and that he shouldn't have to prove it to Treecko. But if he had to, then he would. He was confident that if he hadn't been in that battle with Pikachu before hand, he would have won with no problems.

Now that both Pokemon were at one hundred percent, they could see who the better one was. With Treecko being restricted with the use of only one attack, an attack that was weak against Tailow, the Tiny Swallow Pokemon looked to exploit his advantage in any way possible.

(Don't think I'll hold back just because you're handicapped.) Tailow said to Treecko.

(I can still beat you regardless of anything.) Treecko declared with a smirk.

(Oh? Care to prove that?)

(Fine, bring it on!)

Ash, completely oblivious to the happenings between the two Pokemon, signalled the two to begin.

A few miles away were Pikachu and Mightyena. The two Pokemon were observing the confrontation between two of their team mates. Mightyena, being the thick-headed Pokemon that he is, was unable to comprehend why exactly Treecko and Tailow were acting that way. Pikachu, on the other hand, knew a rivalry when he saw one – having seen the intense rivalry between its trainer, Ash, and another trainer, Gary and many other smaller rivalries such as the ones between Ash and Richie and Ash and Harrison. The electric type made a mental note to talk to Treecko and Tailow when he had the chance.

(What are they doing over there?) Mightyena asked Pikachu.

(They're just training; nothing to worry about.) Pikachu reassured the dark-type.

(Okay then, nothing to worry about!) Mightyena repeated (Alright, its team for you to learn Iron Tail.)

(Right, I can't wait!) Pikachu exclaimed eagerly, somewhat mimicking his own trainer, (What do I do first?)

(Okay, first off you have to… um… uh…) Mightyena stuttered. Pikachu looked at him strangely, (Ah… I can't remember!)

Pikachu face-palmed, face faulted and did just about any other humorous thing in this situation. He looked at Mightyena incredulously (What do you mean you don't remember?!)

(I don't know!) Mightyena insisted. He dug his paw into the ground timidly as he sheepishly explained, (I've always known _how _to do it, ever since I was a little Poochyena actually, but I've never known _why _I can do it.)

(Oh… I see.) Pikachu said, trying to hide his disappointment. He really wanted to learn that attack… (Now what?)

(I don't want to go back to master with no results.) Mightyena admitted (He'll be really disappointed in me.)

Pikachu nodded in understanding, knowing that Ash would be disappointed regardless if he shows it or not.

Mightyena sighed (Let's get on with it, then.)

(Wait!) Pikachu halted the dark type, (Let's try this anyway!)

(But… I can't teach you.) Mightyena insisted. Pikachu shook his head.

(Then I'll help you remember.) Pikachu smiled, (Even if we just get the basics down, Ash would be proud. In fact, he'll be able to take over once we get the basics down so you don't have to worry anymore.)

(You really think so? You really think I can teach you?) Mightyena asked in disbelief.

(Absolutely.) Pikachu nodded (Now tell me, when was the first time you used Iron Tail?)

(Well, it all started when I was a little Pooch…)

* * *

"Come one, come all! See the Rustboro City Pokemon Contest!" a man shouted over the mummers of the shoppers in the Rustboro City Shopping Centre as he and a couple of others handed out flyers to passer-bys. Their shoes squeaked as they brushed against the highly polished marble flooring. The sunlight filtered in through a high glass dome that covered every part of the shopping centre. There were all types of plants and water features; making the centre a better and more pleasant place to shop in.

May examined the flyers curiously, in wonder of what a Pokemon Contest was as the actual flyer gave no direct hints. There were a few pretty looking Pokemon spaced about a pink and yellow backdrop with confetti and party string surrounding them. On the bottom, printed in small white letters, were details such as the place and the time. Beside her, Caroline read the look of confusion on her daughters face and prepared herself for the incoming question.

"What's a Pokemon Contest?"

Caroline took the flyer from the girl's hands and read the details quickly. With a smile, she said, "It's hard to explain, but you'd understand if you saw one."

"We're going to see one? When?"

"It says here that it's on tomorrow morning," Caroline read the flyer, "Tomorrow morning at 11am."

"11am? But that's when Ash is having his gym battle," May reminded her mother. Truthfully, Ash said 'around 11am' which could mean any time before or after. Since she was unaware of Ash's habits when it comes to gym battles, she decided to play it safe.

"I'm sure you would find this much more enjoyable," Caroline shook her head, "Ash wouldn't mind."

"Well… I don't know about that, but I'll go anyway," May said, "I'll tell Ash; he does need to know after all."

"Sounds good," her mother said, "Now, where do you want to go next?"

Meanwhile, some where else in the shopping centre, Brendan Birch was just stocking up on some supplies. After his battle with Ash, he finished what he had set out to do in the forest and came back to Rustboro City to fully prepare himself to the trip to Verdanturf Town via the eastern exit of Rustboro City and then onwards to Mauville City, the home of his next gym badge.

After slinging on his yellow back pack, Brendan went to leave the centre but an interesting sight stopped him in his tracks.

A couple of feet away were a small crowd of people who were watching a raven coloured bird perform. The bird was strange looking, as it looked like its feathers were formed in such away that a hat of sorts was perched upon its head. It had a mane of white feathers, almost like a scarf. It had read feathers on the underside of its wings. Its tail feathers were raven with red tips and were bunched together like a bouquet of flowers.

Brendan had no idea what the bird was, but it looked strangely familiar to him. He took out his Pokedex and scanned the bird. To his surprise and confusion, the Pokedex read 'No Data'.

"'No Data'? How is that possible?" Brendan questioned silently. He looked on at the bird for a moment longer. It was flying about, performing a couple of attacks and creating a couple of patterns in the sky. The crowd, however, were not impressed and they weren't shy about sharing that knowledge through shouting.

"That's not a Pokemon!" someone shouted.

"This sucks!" Another said.

"Stop ripping us off, kid!"

"Whoa, whoa, let's not be hasty here!" a thirteen year old teen said, revealing him self from behind a plant pot. He looked fairly above average in height, around five feet six. He wore white trainers and black combat trousers with a gold streak running down the side of each leg. He also wore a long sleeved white shirt with golden trimming. It was barely noticeable from a distance, but there some characters written down one sleeve of the shirt. Around his neck was a golden yellow scarf, around mid-length and tied so it rested on his shoulder and back. The oddest thing about him was his hair. As far as Brendan could tell, his hair was dyed as it was navy blue with blond streaks. It was tied into a very small pony-tail; it looked unnecessary to have a pony-tail that short.

"Stop ripping us off!" someone repeated. The teen looked taken aback.

"Ripping you off? How the hell am I ripping you off?!" the teen looked agitated. One angry spectator stepped forward and got into his face.

"You promised us a 'one man Pokemon Grand Festival' yet all we've seen is a crappy little machine doing fancy things, not a Pokemon!"

"Machine? What are you talking about? This is a perfectly legit Pokemon!" he exclaimed. He held his arm out and the bird perched on it.

"Prove it!"

"Fine, I will!" he said. He rummaged through his pocket, as if looking for something. His face was twisted as he looked. It then turned into a face of horror as he pulled his hand out, _empty_, "Um…"

"Aha, you can't!" someone laughed, "Now that we're right, give us back the money we paid!"

"Are you illiterate of something? The sign clearly stated 'No Refunds'!" the teen said smartly. The crowd was silent as they simultaneously looked at a small sign. Written in rather crude writing were the words: 'One Man Grand Festival – No Refunds!'

"So you did rip us off!"

"Not my original intention, but now that you mention it; it was a scam all along!" the teen exclaimed. He suddenly jumped off of his make-shift stage and ran away. The crowd then turned into an angry mob and chased after him. Brendan had to almost dive out of the way in order to prevent himself from getting trampled to death. Once the crowd has left the general area, Brendan sighed and scratched his head.

"Random…" His eye then caught something hiding behind a plant pot. Sticking out from it was a tuft of blue hair…, "So he hid himself, clever…"

The teen walked out chuckling to him self. His bird hovered slowly above his head. The bird then perched on the teens shoulder, "People are so ignorant these days, eh Toni?"

The bird crowed, (Damn straight!)

The teen shook his head, "They should know that there are more than three-hundred-and-something Pokemon."

'_More than three-hundred-and-something Pokemon?'_ Brendan repeated in his head,_ 'What does he mean?'_

"Can I help you?" someone said, snapping Brendan out of his musings. He looked up and saw a pair of icy blue eyes staring straight at him. A bird crowed, making Brendan jump slightly.

Brendan stuttered, "N-no…"

The teen suddenly smiled, "Good," he then addressed his bird, "Let's go Toni, we're done with this town."

Toni chirped, (Damn straight!)

"I'll have to talk to dad about this," Brendan muttered as he walked off.

* * *

Several hours later, Ash had finished his training and was eating a packed lunch (even though it was around dinner time) that Caroline had so kindly prepared for him. His Pokemon were eating some Pokemon food made by Ash's friend and former travelling companion Brock. They were tired after a long, four hours worth of solid training.

Pikachu had managed to learn the basics of Iron Tail and could form an acceptable version of it thanks to the help and guidance of Mightyena. The dark type explained some of his past to the electric type and together, they figured out where to begin. Ash was incredibly proud of the results and heaped praise onto his first Hoenn capture. Mightyena was extremely elated.

Treecko and Tailow had exhausted themselves so much that they could hardly move, much to Ash's exasperation. Tailow had used everything it had against the grass type; preventing Treecko from hitting it with Absorb and proving he was better. Treecko had taken a lot of damage, but was too stubborn to admit defeat especially to Tailow, of all Pokemon. On the plus side, Treecko's Absorb attack had significantly improved.

Overall, it was a fairly rewarding yet tiring session of training. Ash was pleased with the work rate of his Pokemon and was even more confident about tomorrow's gym battle.

"I've finally found you!" a familiar voice called out. Ash looked around and saw May running this way. He put down his food and stood up, waiting for her to arrive.

"Hey May, what's up?" he asked as she caught her breath, "Are you done shopping?"

"Yeah," May confirmed, "Mum has gone to the prison for some reason so I tried to find you."

"Well, you've found me," Ash pointed out. He then repeated, "What's up?"

May handed him the flyer she had received earlier in the town centre. Ash examined it. He then said confusedly, "A Pokemon Contest? What's that?"

"I actually don't know," May admitted, "But my mum says the best way to find out is to go watch one. It's on tomorrow at 11am, so I won't be able to watch your gym battle. Sorry."

Ash nodded in understanding and then closed his eyes in thought, "Well… this contest-thingy sounds interesting, and so I might go watch as well. I can put off the gym battle until later. Everything will work out that way."

"Are you sure?" May asked, albeit surprised. Ash nodded.

"I've had gym battles in the evening before; it's no big deal," he shrugged, "Besides, the team's a bit worn out and could do with some extra rest."

"Oh, well okay then," May smiled, "I thought you'd be mad about me not watching you, or something."

"Well, I can't really force you to stay and watch," Ash said, "It's just nice to have the extra moral support."

"That's good to know."

"Speaking of gym battles; are you going to take on the gym leader tomorrow as well?"

May didn't answer right away. The question had caught her off guard as she didn't think people would assume she'd be taking on gym leaders. Again, she was unsure if Ash would react madly or not. Taking a deep breath, she answered him, "No, I won't be."

"You're not? How come?" Ash asked with confusion etched across his face.

"Battling just isn't my thing; it's not something I enjoy," May admitted. For some reason, she kept thinking that Ash would get mad and tell her that she can't travel with him anymore.

But, that was far from the case as Ash just nodded understandably once more, "Oh, well it's your choice. No one's going to force you, anyway. Can I just ask you something, though?"

"Go ahead."

"Why do you want to travel?"

"I really want to see the world," May answered almost instantly; "I want to see all the wonders of the world and experience all sorts of different things. Getting a Pokemon was just my excuse to do that. I actually don't like Pokemon, at least, I used to."

"You mean you like them now?"

May nodded thoughtfully, "Whilst travelling with you, I've realised just what all the hype about them is about. There really aren't as bad as I thought they were. Some are so cute as well, like Pikachu, Torchic, and Wurmple—"

Mightyena suddenly barked and waited expectantly for something. May giggled at the dog, "You too, Mightyena."

"Wow May," Ash said, unsure on what to say, "It's great that you think that, I guess… I really don't know what to say."

May laughed, "Don't worry about saying anything. At least you understand."

Ash nodded, "I'm going back to the hotel; you coming?"

"Sure."

* * *

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mrs. Maple," Joaquin said as he shook Caroline's hand.

"I trust you," Caroline said as she left the building. Joaquin then looked towards Rouge, who had been standing to the side and observing the negotiations between the two.

"So, it seems you've conducted a clever piece of business here," Rouge said. Joaquin smirked.

"Its win-win for us; win-win-win for Kyoku and me," Joaquin informed her.

"Yes, you most certainly kill a lot of birds with one stone," Rouge said.

"Not only do we get away from _him _for a while, we can keep an eye on both Team Aqua and Team Magma as well as kick-back a bit," Kyoku said with a grin, "You should come with us Rouge."

Rouge shook her head, "I can't. I need to go back to the leader otherwise he'll think we've all abandoned him. I am here on his orders, you know."

"Oh really? So what does he think of our current situation?" Joaquin asked.

Kyoku snorted, "He's probably throwing a tantrum."

"He's not very happy, obviously, and expects you to come straight back to him once you're released," Rouge said, "With this recent development, I don't think he'll be very pleased."

"Not to worry," Joaquin said, "I'm sure even he would like this plan."

Rouge nodded, "We'll see," she then said, "You're going to have to change your name so you don't get recognised. That amongst other things."

"We've got it covered," Kyoku said, "Meet us after we get released, we'll tell you the details then."

Rouge nodded, "That's fine. It's not safe to discuss such things here."

"What 'things'?" asked Kyle Williams as he walked into the room. Rouge nodded to Kyoku and Joaquin.

"Well, I need to go now," she said as she went to leave, "You two take care."

"Don't worry, we're—"

"One hundred percent guaranteed, I know."

Rouge left the building and Joaquin and Kyoku sat down on their respective beds. The police officer Kyle Williams walked up to the bars.

"What have you been discussing?" he demanded.

"None of your damn business!" Joaquin snapped. Kyle Williams raised a brow.

"Oh, something illegal, is it?" he sneered, "I'm well within my rights to detain you for longer for plotting illegal actions."

"But the problem is, we were not discussing anything illegal," Kyoku chipped in.

"Don't believe us? Bring out that little lie detector that's collecting dust over there and see if we're lying or not," Joaquin remarked. Kyle Williams grumbled and stalked off.

"I've got my eye on you."

Joaquin snorted, "What a pedo…"

* * *

On Route 116, east of Rustboro City, the blue haired teen was strolling along with his strange bird Pokemon. He was counting a rather thick wad of PokeDollars – the currency of every Pokemon region in the world – out loud.

Route 116 was a simple route with plenty of grass and trees. In fact, it was like a long stretch of a grassy field with the odd ledge of dirt here and there. There was no dirt path or any other man made path to follow, so having a map or a somewhat decent sense of direction was vital for navigation.

"Hoenn is considerably warmer than home, eh Toni?" he said to the bird, who crowed in response.

(Damn straight.)

The teen then tripped over a rock but managed to keep his balance, "It's a hell of lot rockier as well," he grumbled, "It's like the complete opposite of home."

(Damn straight.)

The two walked on in silence for a little while before they suddenly stopped. Listening carefully, they could hear some rustling in some bushes a few metres away. The teen eyed the bushes carefully and then signalled for Toni to fly high into the air.

He then waited for something to happen; anything. After about a minute, nothing happened so the teen continued to walk.

Suddenly, something leapt out of the bushes and started sprinting towards the teen. That someone attempted to strike the teen in the head, but found him self submerged in some sort of blue aura and unable to move. The person struggled, but couldn't break the aura that has paralysed him.

Toni flew down with its eyes glowing an eerie blue. Without turning around, the teen spoke, "You're under Toni's Psychic attack; you won't be able to break free."

Toni suddenly made the person fall to the floor using its Psychic power. The teen turned around and saw a man in a blue and black uniform. He had a blue bandana with white crossbones on the front on his head. He placed the money he was counting into his pocket and then looked down at the man with contempt. A smirk spread across his face as he spoke.

"You're not very good at stalking people, are you?" he asked rhetorically, "You're not supposed to make any noise. You're also supposed to be aware of any dangers, like Toni."

The man growled, "Don't patronise me."

"Don't be such an idiot and I won't have to," the teen remarked. He voice then turned cold, "Now tell me: why are you here?"

"I'm not going to tell you anything, kid."

"Toni," the teen said simply. Toni used its power to smash the man head against the floor. Not hard enough to knock him out, but still with force. The teen then told the bird to stop, "Will you talk now? I can think of worse ways to make you talk."

"Grr… fine," he submitted, "You know things that could be beneficial to our organisation."

"Oh? And how would you know that?" the teen questioned.

"A spy, obviously," the man smirked, "We've been watching you ever since you're arrival to this region; ever since we saw that strange Pokemon."

"So we're taking you win for an interrogation," someone said from behind the teen. The teen looked around and saw three more men in blue and black.

The teen suddenly laughed, "I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you."

In the space of about two seconds, Toni glowed black before unleashed many dark purple energy balls in every possible direction. They struck each of the men and sent them flying many metres away. They all flopped to the ground, unmoving and out cold. Toni then used Psychic to fling the first man away, knocking him out as well. There was an eerie silence as the teen stood there, staring straight ahead of him. He then chuckled and smirked.

"That was _them _eh? Heh, this will be interesting…"

* * *

And that's the end of chapter eight. Right, I've got some explaining to do.

My initial plan was to rewrite this, but that thought was a bit premature on my part. I realised that this story really wasn't as bad as I thought it was and I asked my self; "What if the rewrite turns out to be just as bad, or worse?" My already fragile confidence would be completely shattered and I'd probably give up writing altogether. I figured that continuing this story would be better in the long run and there's still a hell of a lot of room for improvement – we have a long way to go, yet.

So after I made that decision, I took a couple of weeks off to recuperate; to recharge my batteries. School came along, so I took more time off to focus on school since I have to work really hard this year. On Saturday, 13th September 2008, I finally got round to finishing off this chapter that I had started a few weeks ago.

I feel very pleased with this chapter and as you can see, business is starting to pick up. I've introduced a mysterious new character, hinted at an upcoming story arc and have completed the build up to Ash's first gym battle and the first contest the gang will see. There's a bit of character development in this chapter as well so overall, I feel that this chapter was very good.

I can definitely promise another update. When, I don't know. I've got school work to do, so from here on update dates will be very inconsistent.

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think.


	9. The Contest and Gym Battle

Rustboro Hall was a dome shaped arena located a fair distance away from the main city. It was exactly a whole day's walk away from the city but a significantly short car ride; about half an hour, in fact. It was fortunate that Norman and Caroline happened to have been in the city with their car. The Maples and Ash arrived at around 9am. They had to get their early in order to buy tickets as an event like this usually attracted a great number of people. After purchasing their tickets, they spent the next couple hours just looking around the various souvenir stands that were set around the arena.

Eventually, it was time for the contest to begin. The group of five found their seats in the middle tier. The arena was huge and circular. The carpet and walls were deep claret and the seats were made of black leather. There were gold beams running up the wall and meeting in the middle of the ceiling, where six scoreboards were hung and positioned in a hexagonal shape. They were currently blank. In the middle of the arena was a highly polished purple coloured stage with a long blue desk-like station near the edge. Three seats could be seen behind the desk and there were three screens on the front of it. There was a buzz of anticipation as people filtered in through the numerous entrances located at the top and middle of the seating.

"Wow, there're a lot of people," May commented as she watched people come in and sit down. She was sitting in the middle of the section they were in. Next to her were Caroline, then Norman, then Max and finally Ash, who sat next to an aisle that separated this section with the one next to it. Pikachu sat in Ash's lap so as to not obscure the vision of the person behind them.

"Pokemon Contests are extremely popular," Caroline said, "Even more so than Pokemon Battles; contests are a bit easier on the eye and much more exciting to watch."

"You think this is impressive, you should see the attendance at a Pokemon Stadium," Norman cut in, "It's about twice the size of this and twice as amazing."

"We're talking about contests today, dear," Caroline said annoyed, "Not battles."

Norman rolled his eyes, "I was just saying."

The lights in the arena suddenly went dim and the crowd's noise died down. Everyone waited in silent anticipation. It stayed like this for a couple of minutes. Ash, Max and May – having never seen a contest before – were wondering what was going on. Before any of them could ask, a loud voice boomed throughout the entire arena.

"Ladies and Gentleman welcome to the Rustboro City Pokemon Contest!" said a women's voice from the speakers. The crowd applauded loudly as a spotlight shone on to the middle of the stage, revealing a woman with brown hair. She was tall and was wearing a red gown with white gloves. She had a microphone in one hand.

"I am Vivian Meridian, your master of ceremonies today. Nice to meet you!" she continued, introducing herself. The crowd cheered along with the applause, welcoming her appearance.

Three more spotlights shone on the stage, revealing three more people. Vivian introduced them one by one, "Now let's introduce today's judges! First, we have the president of the Pokemon Contest Committee, Mr. Contesta!"

An aging man with grey hair waved to the crowd. He was wearing a red suit with black shoes. He was sitting behind the long desk at one end.

"Next, we have the president of the Pokemon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!"

A short man who was bald and was also wearing a suit also waved to the crowd. He was sat next to Mr. Contesta behind the desk.

"Finally, we have Rustboro City's own Nurse Joy!"

Nurse Joy was sitting in the final seat and was dressed in the same nurse outfit she was always in. Once the crowd's cheers had died down, Vivian continued.

"Here's what our contestants will be trying to win today!" she said as she held up a small blue ribbon with a gold pendant in the middle. A picture of the ribbon appeared on the monitors above the stage. Many were awed at how pretty such a simple object could be, including May.

Vivian continued, "Now for all those who are new to this and haven't a clue what's going on; don't worry, as I will explain today's proceedings!"

"Pay attention to this, guys," Caroline said above the noise. May and Max leaned in to listen intently while Ash stayed where he was. Actually, Ash seemed rather absent minded.

"There will be two rounds; an appeal round and a battle round," Vivian explained, "The first round will be the appeal round, where the coordinators and their Pokemon of choice will try to dazzle the crowd and the judges with their performance!"

"So it's like a talent show?" Max asked.

"You'll see," Caroline said.

"The judges will then choose sixteen coordinators to proceed onto the battle stage," Vivian finished, "So, without further ado: let's get busy!"

The majority of the crowd mimicked Vivian as she said 'let's get busy.' The crowd cheered and applauded as the lights brightened slightly. The spotlight left Vivian and went down a run way that went under the seats. The crowd focused on that particular spot.

"Introducing our first contestant; please welcome Janet!" Vivian introduced as a lilac haired woman made her to the stage. The spotlight followed and the crowd applauded. Janet seemed to be holding several white disks. She stood in the centre of the stage and confidently threw out a Pokeball. The ball snapped open and a beautiful butterfly-like Pokemon appeared. It had a white and black body with a long and string-thin nose. It stretched its entire wing span, revealing very shiny yellow, blue, red and black wings. Everyone was awed by the beauty of the Pokemon.

"Use String Shot!" Janet called as she threw up some of the white disks. Beautifly shot a long sticky thread from its nose and used it as a whip to smash the white disks into small pieces. The pieces floated about in the sky. After all of the white disks had been smashed, Janet called out her next command, "Now use Hidden Power!"

Beautifly glowed bright white as beams of light shot out everywhere. Everyone was temporarily blinded for a couple of seconds until the light died down. Tiny, shiny sparkles started to fall onto the crowd. The crowd was awed once more and showed their appreciation through cheers and applause.

"What a magnificent performance!" Vivian exclaimed, "Let's see what the judges think."

One by one, the judges displayed a score on their respective screens. The scores were ten, ten and ten, totalling a score of thirty. This also appeared on the overhead monitors. The crowed were amazed at the high score.

"A score of thirty out of thirty, incredible!" Vivian said, "Let's give a big round of applause for Janet!"

The crowd cheered and applauded wildly as Janet made her way off stage and to the back.

"That really was incredible," May said, amazed by the performance. Her mother was right; it was certainly most pleasing on the way and a lot easier to watch than battles. The crowd was really into it and it seemed like a really exciting thing to do.

"It certainly was impressive," Norman commented.

"Now, it's time for our next contestant…"

There were several other appeals of all different styles, each one as amazing as the last. A wide variety of Pokemon and attacks were used in order to create dazzling patterns and combinations that just took the crowds breathe away. As it went on, May become more and more into it; cheering loudly every time. She was impressed every time. Caroline joined in every now and again, as did Max. Norman remained calm, not overly impressed but impressed nonetheless. As for Ash, he was still absent minded and has been silent throughout the entire contest. It was slightly out of character of him.

"And now, it's time for our final performance," Vivian informed the crowd, "Let's welcome Jessibella!"

A woman with long purple hair in a black and red outfit came out onto the stage. She had a large, eccentric pair of glasses perched on her nose. She threw her Pokeball out and a Seviper appeared. The snake hissed to the crowd, causing some to shudder in fear.

The woman then pulled out a book and flipped to a certain page. She then called, "Seviper, use Sacred Fire!"

The crowd collectively gasped at the order. A Seviper using the legendary Sacred Fire attack was outrageous at best and would definitely be worth seeing. It was even enough to get Ash's attention. The snake Pokemon gave its master a confused look; it obviously couldn't use Sacred Fire.

Jessibella was agitated, "You mean you can't use Sacred Fire?!"

Seviper shook its head no. Jessibella started to list other attacks, "Luster Purge?" Seviper shook its head again, "Dragon Claw?" the same reply, "Aeroblast? Water Pulse? Overheat? You can't do any of those?!"

Seviper shook its head no again. If a snake could sweat, then Seviper would be right now and Jessibella glared at it. The crowd was silent throughout the entire ordeal, wondering just what was going on and whether or not the appeal was an act of stand-up comedy. Some were starting to get restless and even started booing. Vivian approached Jessibella.

"Is there a problem?" she asked her. Jessibella snapped.

"No there isn't a problem!" she exclaimed, "Use Poison Tail!"

Now that was an attack Seviper could do. The poison type leapt into the air with its tail glowing purple. It then slammed the glowing tail into the ground, making a small indentation. The dust produced from the impact cleared. Seviper sat there and there was silence.

"Um… judges?" Vivian said uncertainly. The judges displayed their scores. They were zero, zero and zero, obviously totalling zero. Jessibella was stunned and angry. She went to protest but was quickly removed from the stage. The crowd were still silent.

"Ok…," Vivian muttered. She then cleared her throat, "Okay, it's time to see who will proceed to the battle stage!"

The pictures of the sixteen selected people appeared one by one on the monitors. Janet was the first picture to appear, signifying that she had the best appeal. It is noteworthy that the others that passed on to the battle stage had the highest scores.

"Now we will see who will face who!"

The pictures began to randomly pair off and in a matter of seconds; a tournament table had been created. The first match would involve Janet versus a male coordinator.

"Alright, so this is how the battle stage works," Vivian started, "There will be a five minute time limit. The coordinator with the most points at the end of the five minutes will be declared the winner!"

"Oh, I hate contest battles," Norman groaned.

"And why's that?" Caroline asked, annoyed at her husband once more.

"They're too short, for one thing, and no where near as exciting as a league battle," Norman explained, "Not to mention the fact you don't even have to knock out your opponent's Pokemon to win!"

"You don't?" Max asked.

Norman nodded, "It's the coordinator with the most points that wins. Points can be lost in a number of different ways; taking a hit, missing an attack, botched combination, etcetera."

"That does sound a bit boring…"

"And now, it is time for the first battle!"

The crowd applauded as Janet and the male coordinator made their way to the stage. They positioned them selves on either end and called out their Pokemon. Janet was using Beautifly and the male coordinator was using a Venomoth. The five minutes flew by. Numerous attacks and combinations were displayed from both sides. Janet came out the winner, since she had the most points at the end of it. Venomoth wasn't knocked out.

Several battles later, Janet was the winner of the Rustboro City Pokemon Contest. The crowd applauded her as she was presented her ribbon. She showed the crowd the ribbon and celebrated to herself as the crowd cheered.

"That was amazing!" May said as she and the others were making their way out of the arena.

"I told you it would be good," Caroline said.

"Maybe I should be a coordinator," May suddenly declared.

"Are you sure? It looks like a lot of hard work," Max remarked.

"I can handle it," May insisted, "I wonder how you become one."

"I know how," Caroline said, "I was coordinator too, you know, back in the day."

"You were?!" May and Max exclaimed. Caroline nodded.

"Yes, and as far as I know, you can become a coordinator by getting yourself a contest pass," Caroline explained, "You can usually get one at the main desk in a contest hall."

"You think we can get one now?" May said excitedly. Caroline looked at Norman and he nodded.

"I don't see why not," Caroline said. May cheered and followed her mother back into the arena. Norman sighed to himself and leaned against his car.

"Like mother, like daughter, I guess," Norman said, "So Ash, you ready for your gym battle?"

"Hm?" Ash said, snapping out his absent minded state, "Yeah, yeah, I'm ready."

"Are you okay Ash? You seemed kind of out it during that contest," Max asked the teen. Ash nodded.

"I'm fine, really, I was just thinking," Ash reassured them.

"Were you thinking up some battle strategies for later?" Max asked.

"Um… yeah, that's it," Ash said unconvincingly. Max bought it, but Norman was sceptic. He decided to leave it be, though, since he respected Ash's privacy.

Truth was, battle strategies were the last thing on Ash's mind. Seeing the Maples altogether, enjoying something together and having their own disputes; just like a normal family, reminded Ash of the family that he doesn't have. He has no uncles, no aunties, no cousins, no siblings, no grand parents and no father, as far as he knew. Only a caring, single mother who has taken care of him since birth. He had never really thought about it before, not since he first met Brock and his incredibly large family. But back then, he was so focused on his gym battles that he could hardly care. He had met several other families on his travels, but none of them really reminded him of his non-existent family or what he could've had; not like the Maple family does. Ash knew he had to clear his head or he wouldn't be able to focus in the battle that was coming up. He just hoped that he didn't start thinking about the morale support a family could have given him…

May and Caroline came back out around five minutes later. May now had a contest pass and was as happy as could be. She was most certainly excited about the prospect of performing on stage with her Pokemon and dazzling many audiences. The thought of it sounded a lot more appealing than beating up other people's Pokemon. Of course, not everyone thought that but their opinions didn't really matter to her at this point.

Another half an hour car drive later, the Maples and Ash were at the Rustboro City gym. The gym was shaped like a large rock; it was even made out of stone. It's well documented that the design of a gym can give away its type. Ash figured that this was a rock type gym, since the gym was made of stone and rock. His suspicions were confirmed when he entered. The entire battlefield was rocky and very well suited to rock and ground type Pokemon.

There were a number of people, in their late teens, working around the gym. A woman who looked to be in her early twenties was instructing them. She noticed Ash and co. walk in and greeted them with a warm smile.

"Welcome to the Rustboro City gym," she said warmly, "I take it one of you has come for a gym battle."

Ash nodded and stepped forward, a familiar look of determination in his eyes. Any previous thought about family were wiped away the second he stepped into the gym. The familiar feeling of anticipation and intensity returned to him. He simply could not think of anything else at this point.

"My name's Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town," he introduced, "I'm here for my first badge."

"Your first? Well, I'm honoured that you are starting your Hoenn league experience in our gym," Roxanne said, "Your challenge is accepted."

"Alright, are you ready to win, Pikachu?" Ash asked the yellow rodent.

(I'm always ready!) Pikachu said as he jumped to the floor, next to Ash. The Maples made their way up to the stands that overlooked the battle field and sat down.

Roxanne and Ash took to their respective positions on the field and waited as a referee positioned himself on the sideline. He had red flag in one hand and a green flag in the other.

"Before we begin," Roxanne said, "Do you mind if we film this battle? I like to teach my students using these videos."

"Sure, I'd be glad to show your students how to win a gym badge!" Ash smirked.

"My, my, aren't you confident?" Roxanne asked rhetorically, "Well, we'll see if you can back it up."

"The following contest between the Gym Leader, Roxanne and the challenger, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town is about to begin," the referee announced professionally, "Each trainer will use up to three Pokemon with only the challenger able to use substitutions. The first to knock-out all of the other trainer's Pokemon will be declared the winner. Trainers, begin!"

Roxanne threw a Pokeball out onto the field, "Go, Geodude!"

A small floating rock with arms appeared. It had large eyes and mouth. It flexed its arms and pounded the earth with its large hands.

May opened up her Pokedex and scanned the strange Pokemon, **"Geodude: the Rock Pokemon. The longer a Geodude lives, the more its edges are chipped and worn away, making it more rounded in appearance. However, this Pokemon's heart will remain hard, craggy and rough always." **

"Geodude is a rock type and has really tough defences," Max said, "Physical attack would hardly effect it."

"Sounds like a really tough Pokemon," May said, "Rock types are weak against grass type, right?"

"Yeah, and Ash has a Treecko. He should be alright," Max said.

"We'll see," Norman added, watching intently.

"Treecko, I choose you!" Ash said as he threw out Treecko's Pokeball. The gecko Pokemon appeared onto the field, looking as healthy and as ready as can be. It placed its signature twig in its mouth and smirked at Geodude.

(You're my opponent? This should be easy.)

(Don't get cocky, buster.)

"As the challenger, you have the honour of the first attack," Roxanne said to Ash. The raven haired teen smirked.

"Treecko, use Quick Attack!" he called out, much to many people's surprise. Treecko zoomed in and body checked Geodude, who didn't even budge from the hit. It looked completely fine.

"Ash, you should know that physical attacks would never hurt a rock type," Roxanne said, "Geodude, use Mega Punch!"

Geodude's fist glowed bright white as it punched Treecko right in the gut. Treecko was sent soaring into the sky as it took the full brunt of the attack. The grass type managed to flip in mid air and landed on its feet. It was very winded and had to take a moment to catch its breath. Roxanne capitalised on the opportunity.

"Follow up with Rollout!"

Geodude rolled itself up into a ball and began to roll at high speeds at Treecko. The nimble grass type easily avoided but Geodude managed to use a rock to fling itself into the air. Geodude started to descend towards Treecko and an even quicker pace.

"Try knock it away with Pound!" Ash called out. Treecko used its tail to block Geodude. The friction created by Geodude's spinning hurt immensely, but Treecko gritted through it long enough to swat the rock type away into a rock. Geodude's spinning caused it bounce of off the rock at and odd angle and it landed back on the battle field. It continued to spin at a higher velocity and charged towards Treecko at incredible speeds, "Dodge it!"

Treecko managed to jump high into the air and out of Geodude's range. Geodude rolled up a rock again and stared to fly towards Treecko. The grass type was hit full on and landed heavily on its back. Geodude stopped spinning at landed in front of Treecko.

"Treecko, can you get up?!" Ash called frantically. He had made the mistake of underestimating his opponent and ended up paying for it. Roxanne's Geodude was much stronger and faster than others. Also, its defence was immense at it was going to take a very powerful attack to damage it.

Treecko stood up slowly and glared at Geodude, (That's it, you're going down!)

(Bring it, junior) Geodude taunted.

Treecko got agitated and started to edge in the general direction of Geodude. Ash noticed this and decided to call out an attack before Treecko did anything stupid.

"Jump into the air, Treecko!" Ash told him. Treecko nodded and jumped up high. Geodude and Roxanne waited to see what Ash was about to do, "Now use Quick Attack!"

"Another physical attack?" Roxanne said incredulously, "Geodude, just take the hit."

Geodude braced itself for the hit. The distance between the two Pokemon was shortening rapidly. Just when it seemed that there was going to be a repeat of earlier, Ash called out another attack.

"Use Pound!"

As soon as Treecko got close enough, it swung its large tail and hit Geodude with amazing force. It was enough to send Geodude flying into several rocks. The speed and momentum of Quick Attack in its decadency multiplied the power of Treecko's Pound attack, but the injury on its tail took away some of the damage. Nonetheless, it still did a very good amount of damage.

"Whoa, that was cool!" Max exclaimed.

"It was certainly a good strategy," Norman said.

(How'd you like that?) Treecko taunted, ignoring the major pain in its tail.

"Very clever of you Ash, but it's going to take more than that to beat Geodude," Roxanne said. Just as she said that, Geodude emerged from the rocks. It still looked undamaged, but Ash knew otherwise, "Geodude, use Mega Punch!"

Geodude charged in with a glowing fist, looking to strike Treecko. Ash knew it was time to reveal his trump card.

"Treecko, dodge it and then use Absorb!"

Treecko flipped over Geodude and generated the green whip that is the Absorb attack. Treecko lashed it out and wrapped it around Geodude's body. The whip glowed red, signifying that its energy was being sucked out of it. Geodude tried to struggle out of it, but failed to get out. Treecko then used the hold it had on Geodude to throw into a wall.

The impact created a rather large hole in the wall. More importantly, Geodude was knocked out. Roxanne was stunned at the sudden turn of events, and berated herself for not foreseeing a grass type attack from a grass type Pokemon. She called back Geodude and praised it.

"Very impressive Ash," Roxanna complimented, "Let's see how you do with this one."

She threw out another Pokeball and a small, green creature appeared. It looked to be encased in armour of rock and had a dark glare.

May examined it in her Pokedex, **"Larvitar: the Rock Skin Pokemon. Larvitar is born deep under the ground. To come up to the surface, this Pokemon must eat the soil above. Until it does so, Larvitar cannot meet its parent's face." **

"Wow, Larvitar are really, really rare," Max said, "They evolve into Tyranitar, one of most powerful Pokemon around."

"Ash might have his hands full then," May said, "But he'll win, no problem."

"Okay Treecko, let's make this quick," Ash said. Treecko was looking a little better since it regained some health from the Absorb attack, "Use Absorb attack."

"Counter with Sandstorm!" Roxanne called. Larvitar generated a fierce Sandstorm that covered the entire arena. Even the spectators had to cover their eyes. Treecko lost its concentration as it tried to locate Larvitar. Roxanne's voice could be heard over the Sandstorm, "Use Bite!"

Larvitar suddenly came out of nowhere and chomped down on Treecko's arm. Treecko screamed in pain as it struggled to get the rock type off of it.

"Use Absorb!" Ash called out. Treecko desperately summoned up the familiar green whip and lashed it around Larvitar. The close proximity of the two Pokemon made it easier to do so.

"Throw it!" Roxanne called out. With amazing strength, Larvitar threw Treecko to the side despite the fact it was wrapped up in the Absorb attack.

Treecko got up quickly and started to glow green; it was using its Overgrow ability as an act of desperation. Before Ash could fully utilise it, Roxanne called out an attack.

"Use Pursuit!" Larvitar charged straight for Treecko with surprising speed and hit it with the horn on top of its head. Treecko was sent reeling backwards and ended up knocked out. Ash was surprised; who knew Larvitar could be so fast? He called Treecko back and thanked it for its effort.

"That Larvitar is strong," Ash said to himself. He knew just how tough a Larvitar could be, having took care of one himself. He knew it would take some power to penetrate its defences. He had just the Pokemon, "Go Mightyena!"

The thick-headed dark-type appeared and immediately growled at its opponent. Larvitar tried to intimidate the dark-type with a glare, but Mightyena was having none of it and barked loudly. Larvitar recoiled at the intimidation tactic.

"Mightyena, use Take Down!" Ash called.

"That's a risky move…," Norman commented from the sidelines.

"How come?" May asked.

"When someone uses Take Down, they receive recoil damage. Imagine how much damage someone could receive from using Take Down on a rock type?" Norman explained. May nodded in understanding and hoped that Mightyena wouldn't hurt itself too badly.

"Larvitar, use Sandstorm!" Roxanne called out. Larvitar generated the Sandstorm again. Mightyena skidded to a halt and started to look around. Larvitar suddenly appeared from underneath Mightyena and hit him with its horn. Mightyena landed on its feet and went to retaliate but saw that Larvitar had disappeared again.

Larvitar appeared behind Mightyena this time and chomped down on its tail. Mightyena whined in pain and tried to shake it off, but the little rock type wouldn't budge.

"Use Iron Tail!" Ash called out, in hopes that it might get Larvitar off of Mightyena. The dark type's tail glowed metallic silver and became as hard as steel. Larvitar started to feel the pain of biting down of metal and loosened its grip slightly. It was enough for Mightyena to use its tail to slam Larvitar into the ground. Larvitar's weight plus the impact made a large crater in the ground.

"Quick Larvitar, escape using Dig!" Roxanne called out. Larvitar managed to dig into the ground and burrow away from the aggressive dark-type. Larvitar appeared in front of Roxanne, looking worse for wear but perfectly able to continue.

"I'm impressed with your Mightyena," Roxanne informed, "But this battle ends here. Larvitar, use Rock Slide!"

Larvitar stomped on the ground and a very large bunch of rocks suddenly rose from the ground. The rocks then flew towards Mightyena, threatening to crash on him.

Ash had to act quickly, "Use the rocks to jump!"

Mightyena leapt onto one rock, then onto another, and then another, until all of the rocks had safely piled with him on top. Roxanne gasped; she had never expected something like that from the young trainer.

"Now use Iron Tail!"

Mightyena leapt from the pile of rocks and aimed to hit Larvitar with it hard-as-steel tail. Larvitar used dig to escape once more and Mightyena's Iron Tail harmlessly hit the ground.

"Sniff it out and use Iron Tail again!" Ash called out, using Mightyena's abilities to the fullest. In a matter of moments, Mightyena had tracked Larvitar's scent and charged up an Iron Tail. He slammed the Iron Tail into the ground, causing Larvitar to reveal itself. Mightyena than swung its tail around once more.

"Block it with Rock Smash!" countered Roxanne. Larvitar swung its little arm down and blocked the Iron Tail attack without any problems. In fact, it hurt Mightyena more than it hurt it. Larvitar jumped back again and tunnelled underground once more.

"Try and find its scent!" Ash called out, more desperately than before. After Mightyena recovered from the attack, it sniffed about the ground. Larvitar suddenly appeared behind it, "Behind you!"

"Rock Smash!"

As Mightyena turned around, it met on the head by a powerful Rock Smash attack by Larvitar. Mightyena collapsed to the floor. It looked to be knocked out, but the ref waited a while for confirmation.

"That's that," Roxanne said, "Good work Lar--"

Roxanne was cut off by a yelp in pain by her Larvitar. She looked at it and saw that Mightyena had bitten Larvitar. That wasn't all though. Mightyena's fangs were glowing purple. Mightyena released Larvitar and the two glared at each other. Suddenly, they both collapsed from exhaustion. Neither of them was able to continue.

Both trainers recalled their Pokemon. Ash said, "You were great Mightyena; you gave it your all."

"Thank you, Larvitar, that was excellent," Roxanne praised.

"What a battle," May said, literally on the edge of her seat, "They're both evenly matched."

"I didn't think Ash was so good!" Max exclaimed, awed by the raven haired teen's battle prowess.

"Yes, he certainly is impressive," Norman added.

"Well, it's down to the last Pokemon," Roxanne said, "This has been an excellent battle but I'm afraid it's going to have to end."

"I agree, and it will end with me as the winner," Ash said confidently.

"We'll see about that," Roxanne said, "Go Nosepass!"

From Roxanne's Pokeball appeared a very strange rock type Pokemon that looked like a giant nose sculptured from stone. It had small feet and vary large red nose. Ash examined it with his Pokedex.

"**Nosepass: the Compass Pokemon. Its nose is a magnet. As a result, this Pokemon always keeps its face pointing north." **

"Pikachu, you're up," Ash said to the electric type. Pikachu stepped forward. Everyone was surprised.

"Not a lot of people use an electric type in this gym," Roxanne said, "Let's see what you can do."

"Don't worry, you will," Ash said, "Use Thunder!"

Pikachu generated an absolutely massive charge, bigger than usual, and unleashed it. The charge was large enough to cover the entire battle field and some of the stands with powerful electricity. Once the light cleared away, everyone saw that Nosepass looked to be severely damaged. Pikachu looked a bit winded, but perfectly fine nonetheless. Everyone was amazed; who knew a Pikachu could generate so much power?

"What power…," Max gasped.

"That was absolutely amazing," May commented.

"That's one powerful Pikachu," Roxanne said, "Nosepass, use Rock Tomb!"

Nosepass stomped the ground and several rocky pillars appeared around Pikachu, trapping him and preventing him from moving.

"Use Thunder to blow away the rocks!" Ash called without hesitation. Pikachu generated the charge once more and easily blew away the rocks, "Now use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu prepared the attack and jumped high into the air. He then came down at hit Nosepass with the hard-as-steel tail, inflicting some major damage. Nosepass reeled back, but kept its balance and remained able to fight.

"Nosepass, use Sandstorm!" Roxanne called out. Nosepass whipped up a vicious Sandstorm which obscured the vision of everyone.

"Pikachu, be careful," Ash warned the electric type, "It can find you using its nose."

"Stomp!" Roxanne suddenly called out. The Sandstorm dispersed and revealed Nosepass stomping on Pikachu with its small foot.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash called out frantically. Pikachu unleashed a smaller yet still powerful bolt of electricity.

"Absorb the charge!" Roxanne countered. Nosepass withstood and absorbed the electric attack. The attack did cause Nosepass to get off of Pikachu, however, "Now use Zap Cannon!"

Nosepass shot out a large beam of electric power from its nose. Ash knew what to do the second the attack was called out.

"Receive it!" he called. Pikachu let himself get hit with the attack and absorbed all of the electricity, similar to what Nosepass just did moments ago, "Now finish it with Iron Tail!"

Pikachu leapt up and struck Nosepass with the Iron Tail. The attack was too much for Nosepass and it fell to the ground. The referee, seeing that Nosepass was unable to battle, announced Ash as the victor.

* * *

"Hey, I remember you!" Brendan Birch exclaimed as he came face to face with a familiar blue haired teen. The teen and Toni, the strange yet powerful bird, stopped their walking to turn and look at son of a prestigious professor, "You took all that money from those people."

"Ah, actually, they paid me," the teen shrugged, "I didn't take or steal anything."

Brendan had been travelling towards the tunnel that leads to Verdanturf Town and was making record time as well. It was quiet so the trip was very relaxing. He didn't expect to catch up to the mysterious teen from yesterday, though. He thought that the teen would've been long gone by now, but it seemed the teen was a lot more relaxed about his 'crime' then he should be.

"Don't lie; you deliberately scammed those people out of their money!" Brendan exclaimed, "You should give the money back or I'll call the police!"

The teen suddenly laughed and said, "It's not my fault people nowadays are too stupid for their own good. I merely delivered a one man Grand Festival, yet they think that it's all fake; some machine generating some pretty colours. It's amazing how people can't even recognise a Pokemon when they see it, even with the situation this nation is in at the moment."

"'Situation'? What do you mean?" Brendan demanded.

The teen shook his head, "It doesn't matter." He then began to walk away. Brendan stopped him.

"Hey, you're still going to give back the money!" he insisted, "I'm dead serious here. I will call the police if you won't comply."

"It doesn't matter if you do," the teen said, "They wouldn't be able to stop me anyway."

"You seem awfully confident; just who are you?"

"I'm no one special; just a Pokemon trainer by the name of Isaac," Isaac introduced, "This is Toni, my Honchkrow."

"A Honchkrow?"

"Yes, a Honchkrow," Isaac said. He then turned on his heel and said, "I haven't got time for this, I need to get to Ever Grande City."

"I'm not going to leave you until you give back the money," Brendan reiterated, "How about we have a battle? If I win, you give back the money you stole. If you win, you can keep the money and I won't call the police."

"Heh, I accept," Isaac said, turning back around.

It was a very short and quick bout between Brendan's Marshtomp and Isaac's Honchkrow. Toni's speed and power were just too much for the Mud Fish Pokemon and the water-type was quickly overwhelmed. Brendan was stunned that he was defeated so quickly and easily.

"Just what is a Honchkrow?" he asked Isaac.

"If you did some snooping about, I'm sure you would find out," Isaac replied.

Brendan shook his head, "I'm not going to commit any acts of crime just to find out what a Honchkrow is; why don't you just tell me?"

Isaac didn't reply right away. After a while, he said, "I wish the 'knowledge' made it here already; it would make things so much easier."

Isaac and Toni then left, leaving behind a very confused Brendan.

* * *

Phew, that chapter took a while.

As you've probably may have noticed, the ending of the gym battle was a bit rushed. The battle was drawing out for a bit too long so I had to end it, considering I had to add a couple more segments before the end of the chapter. In fact, the contest and the gym battle took up over 5,000 words! That's 80 to 90 percent of 6,000 word target I have for each chapter! I was going to include two more segments, but the Brendan/Isaac one took up the last 1,000 words. That's way their battle was rushed as well (that, and Brendan got completely owned).

In conclusion, I didn't want this chapter to be too long, so the segments that should've been in this chapter will be in the next one and the gang will finally leave Rustboro City; huzzah!

Now to answer a couple of questions:

_To Araleon_: Here's a little spoiler; Pikachu, Tailow and Treecko will be the only canon Pokemon Ash will have from Hoenn. He'll have two more new ones. May's team won't change much; but she will have additions. As for Max; he's still in the "developing ideas" section. You'll find out what happens to him next chapter (it was going to be this chapter originally, but you know the story). As you've seen in this chapter, Jessie will do contests. James is also still in the "developing ideas" section, but I do have some sort of plan for him (I like him, he's cool). Finally, Norman and Caroline aren't travelling with Ash; they're just there through circumstance.

_To NightlyRains_: I was going to explain about Brock in this chapter as well, but you know the story. Brock will appear sometime later, just not right now. His appearance with be combined with another one. See if you can guess who.

So, please take the time to review! The next update will come… who knows? Sometime next weak, probably.


	10. Team Aqua Again, Ozone Escapes

Ash waited in the lobby of the Rustboro City Pokemon Centre patiently as Nurse Joy performed a final check up on his four Pokemon. The gym battle the previous day had been a gruelling one with heavy hits being traded at every opportunity. It was certainly a huge challenge for the young trainer as Roxanne was very skilled and used each of her Pokemon's attacks cleverly. The young trainer had been caught off guard several times in that battle. Despite that, Ash and his Pokemon pulled through as they obtained their first Hoenn region gym badge. He was incredibly proud of his Pokemon and they thoroughly deserved the rest in the Pokemon Centre. Thankfully, there wasn't much damage done in the battle so an overnight stay was all that required.

The raven haired Kanto native wanted to get to the next gym quickly while he was still fresh off of a win. Ever since he had arrived in Hoenn, he had obtained three Pokemon, performed exceptionally well against a top gym leader, won a couple of battles and had obtained his first gym badge. This was all in the space of about two weeks. Needless to say, Ash was in great form and had a lot of momentum going into his next battle. His confidence was high and so were his Pokemon's. Confidence enabled a person to do many things and right now, Ash felt he could do anything. He knew better though, as past experiences have taught him to not become over-confident but the feeling felt so right, and the thought was a persistent one that lingered in the back of his mind. It was expected, really, since Ash's experience so far in the Hoenn region has been a very pleasant one. Apart from the minor hiccup here and there, he has already made at least five friends in May, Max, Mightyena, Treecko and Tailow. He already has a rival in Brendan and a 'man to beat', for lack of a better term, in Norman. The only thing that was missing was the 'mother away from home', Brock.

Ash and Brock had only parted ways about two and a half weeks ago, with the promise that they would once again meet up somewhere down the road. So far, he has received no word from Brock but that was to be expected, seeing as how he is visiting his family after a near two year absence. Ash had no problem with that, but he wandered how much longer he and May, and now Max, could scrounge around for food in the wild and spend money on meals in cities. There was little to none cooking ability in that group. In reality, that little group could barely get by with their domestic skills. Ash was grateful that Max was coming along, seeing as how the boy has a PokéNavi that could guide them practically anywhere. From this point onwards, they should no longer get lost. Yet somehow, not even Ash was one hundred percent confident in that statement.

But alas, they would just to have to continue on. In typical Ash style, they would have to do what their gut tells them to do; just wing it. In Petalburg Woods, Ash and May just 'winged it' by following a random river. Luckily, they came across a man who knew his way through the forest. The method has worked so far, so why not now or later?

A short tune suddenly played throughout the Pokemon Centre. After the tune stopped, a soft female voice announced something through the numerous speakers dotted around on the centre walls.

"Could Ash Ketchum report to the front desk, please?" it asked. It then repeated, "Could Ash Ketchum report to the front desk, please?"

Ash stood up off of the red sofa he was resting on and walked towards the main desk that was a couple of rooms away. He left the trainer's lounge he was resting in and navigated through a couple of pure white corridors. He entered the main lobby, where the front desk and Nurse Joy resided. A few people were about, talking silently amongst themselves or just silently waiting. Ash walked up to the desk, where Nurse Joy, always smiling, was holding a tray with thee Pokeballs in it. A Pikachu was also perched on top of the tray.

Seeing the young boy, Nurse Joy placed the tray on the desk, "Your Pokemon are in perfect health," she said.

Pikachu jumped onto his usual perch of Ash's shoulder. Ash smiled at his starter Pokemon and scratched him behind the ears, "Hey, you okay, buddy?" he asked him.

(I feel great!) Pikachu responded. Ash then took the three Pokeballs and placed them on his belt like usual.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," he said to her, "I'll be leaving once I get my back pack, okay?"

"Okay," Joy nodded, "But before you do, there's a phone call waiting for you."

"A phone call?" Ash said. He had no idea who it could be.

"Yes, someone by the name of Brock, I think it was," Joy said, thinking back.

"Brock? Why would he call?" Ash asked himself in surprise, "I'll take the call now, Nurse Joy."

"Follow me, then," Joy said. Ash nodded and followed her towards the many picture phones that the Pokemon Centre had. She allocated Ash the correct station and left him so Ash could take the call in privacy. Ash took the phone off of its hook and a live picture of his friend Brock suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Hey Ash, hey Pikachu, how are you doing?" Brock greeted warmly with a smile. Brock was a tall teen with heavily tanned skin and spiky brown hair. He had squinty lines for eyes. Ash could see he was wearing a brown jacket with a green shirt, but that was it. Brock had a wide smile across his face.

"I'm great, Brock!" Ash responded happily. Pikachu responded in kind as well. He then put on a confused face, "But how did you find me?"

"Oh, I had some help from Professor Oak," Brock started, "He has this special machine that can track a trainer's Pokedex signal. Clever, eh?"

"Yeah, it is," Ash agreed, "So how're things going over there?"

"They're… okay, I guess," Brock said slowly and uncertainly, "So how about you? What's Hoenn like?"

"Things are great over here," Ash said, "It's a bit hot, but things are good. I've caught three new Pokemon, Pikachu learned Iron Tail and I have got my first gym badge!"

Ash grinned and proudly showed Brock the Stone Badge, which was yellow and looked like two arrows pointing in the opposite direction to each other. Brock's smiled broadened.

"Already? Wow, you work fast!" he said, "Did you get here all by your self?"

"No, I met up with someone once I arrived in Hoenn," Ash explained, "Her name is May. She's just starting out on her journey."

"So it's a girl, huh?" Brock said slyly, "Misty's going to be jealous."

Ash was confused. Why would Misty be jealous?

"What do you mean, Brock?" Ash asked him. Brock sighed and probably rolled his eyes. Nobody could tell. But any body else in Brock's position would surely react the same way to Ash's denseness.

"Don't worry about it," Brock said, "Just me being me."

_Oh, that explains it, _Ash mused to himself, "Okay then," he said, "So… are you going to start travelling again?"

Brock was silent for a moment. He then said, "I want to. In fact, this was the main reason why I called you."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Brock said, "I was going to go to Hoenn to find you so we could travel together again, but something came up at the gym. I'm trying my best to solve the problem, but it's taking a little longer than expected. I don't know how much longer it's going to take."

"Oh…," Ash looked disappointed. He was hoping that Brock would be ready to travel with him again, but the world doesn't quite work the way you want it to, he figured. He thought about asking about the problem in order to see if he could help out in any way, but then thought better of it, predicting that Brock probably wouldn't disclose any information as of yet. It was about the pride of the Pewter Gym and you never know when someone could be listening in; the walls have ears, you see.

"But don't worry," Brock said, "As soon as this is all over, I promise I'll come find you!"

"Alright, it's a promise!" Ash said wit a grin. Some noise could be heard at Brock's end. Ash didn't know what it was, but it sounded like people talking, "What's going on over there?"

"Ah, darn it…," Brock muttered to himself. He wasn't looking at Ash, but at something else in his house, "Sorry Ash, but I have to go. Good luck on your journey and don't do anything you'll regret."

With that being said, Brock hung up and his picture disappeared from the screen. Ash put the phone down confusedly, "'Don't do anything you'll regret'? What does he mean?"

(I have no idea…) Pikachu shrugged.

Ash thought about it for a while, but then shook his head, "Oh well, it was probably just Brock being Brock," he said, standing up, "It's time we start heading towards the docks."

(Don't forget your bag.)

"Oh yeah… got to pick up my bag first," Ash said. He walked out of the main lobby and back into the trainer's lounge. He picked up his green back pack from the red sofa he was sitting on and quickly checked its contents to see if anything was stolen. Seeing that everything was as it was before, he put it on and left the Pokemon Centre.

At the hotel the Maple family were staying in, May and Max were saying their final goodbyes to their parents, for this would be the last time they would see them for a long time, well, at least until they come back to Petalburg City for a gym battle. May and Max were fully dressed, fully packed and ready to go as they stood near the front door of the hotel. Caroline had just finished hugging Max before Norman spoke.

"Now May, I want you to go out there and become a great Coordinator, just like your mother," he said to her.

May nodded and said determinedly, "Don't worry dad, I'll do my best."

Norman nodded and said to Max, "Max, I want you to learn all you can on your travels. Don't waste this opportunity, okay?"

"Okay Dad, I will," Max said, "I'll make you proud, don't worry."

Norman nodded again and stepped back for Caroline to speak. She looked over her two children and said seriously, "May, take care of your younger brother, Max. We're letting him go because you're there. Always look out for him and make sure he stays out of trouble."

"Don't worry mum, I'll take care of him, even if it means sacrificing Pokemon Contests," May said confidently. Max looked at her with surprise.

"You really mean that, sis?" he asked her. May nodded.

"Of course I do," she said, "You are my brother, after all, even if you are annoying."

"Heh, I can say the same to you," Max laughed, "Just await until Ash hears about some of the embarrassing stuff you've done."

May looked annoyed, "You'll tell him nothing if you know what's good for you," she said threateningly. She cracked her knuckles for good measure. Max gulped.

Norman and Caroline laughed amongst themselves. The family shared one big group hug before May and Max left.

"Bye Mum, bye Dad, We'll miss you!" May said as she left.

"Bye! I hope you beat everybody, dad!" Max added.

Norman wrapped his arm around his wife and held her close, "Don't worry, they'll be absolutely fine."

"I know, I know."

"Good, now how's about we get back to the gym? We've stayed here for a little longer than we expected," Norman said.

Caroline nodded, "We don't wan the gym to be shut down, do we?"

"Absolutely not."

The married couple went back upstairs to gather up their belongings. Caroline looked on in the direction her children left in and thought silently to herself, _Maybe I didn't need Team Ozone… no, I know I don't need them to look after my kids. They're perfectly capable of looking after themselves, even with dangerous criminal organisations roaming about. I have faith them. Good luck, kids._

* * *

"Aw man, how could've we missed the ferry?!" Ash exclaimed in exasperation as he looked out into the vast ocean. He had met up with May and Max about half an hour after he left the Pokemon Centre. They arrived at the docks about five minutes later, only to find that the ferry to Dewford Island had left them behind.

"It says here that the ferry left round about six minutes ago," Max said, examining a time table that posted up on a wall. Ash sighed; they were only a minute late! Max continued, "The next ferry doesn't leave for another three hours, so we're stuck here for a while."

"I was really looking forward to travelling again," Ash moaned, "The city's great and all, but I really want to leave!"

"Calm down, Ash," May said, flicking through Ash's guide book. She had actually asked him for it a couple of days ago, since it had the locations of many shopping centres. Ash said that she should hold onto it, since she would probably be the person who'd use it the most, "We'll just have to do something for three hours."

"Like what?" Max asked. May then brightened up. She had a great idea.

"We can go get something to eat!" she said, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry!"

"You're hungry?" Max asked incredulously, "But we only had breakfast an hour ago!"

"And? An hour is enough time for someone to get hungry!" May argued, "There's always time for food!"

"With your appetite, we'll probably miss the next ferry as well!" Max stated. May glared down at him.

"Are you saying that I eat too much?" she asked darkly, "Did you just imply that I was fat?"

"What? N-no, I didn't!" Max said as May cracked her knuckles for the second time that day.

"Yes you did!" May stated, "Now what did I say would happen if you annoyed me?"

Max was confused, "You didn't say anything. You just said that if I knew what was good for me, I wouldn't tell Ash any embarrassing stories."

"…I meant before that, like, about three years ago?"

"Oh…," Max said. He then quickly hid behind Ash's leg, "Alf, help me!"

Ash sighed in annoyance. He considered letting Max get torn to pieces for forgetting his name yet again. He hoped that he didn't have to put up with this everyday. He saw May lunge for Max. He quickly reacted by placing his hands on May's shoulders, preventing her for getting to Max.

"Calm down, May!" he said hastily, "You're not fat! In fact, you look perfect just the way you are, right Max?"

"Y-yeah, what he said…"

"You really mean that? You don't think I'm too skinny, or anything?"

_I didn't know May was so self-conscious… _"Nope, you look fine," Ash reiterated, "I'm actually kind of hungry now. How's about we go get something to east, like you suggested."

"Okay, if you say so!" May said, now suddenly happy again. She began to happily walk down the docks. Max stepped out from behind Ash's leg.

"Talk about bi-polar," he said, "Thanks for the save their Alf."

Ash's eyebrow twitched. Although Max had only called him that a small number of times, it was getting increasingly annoying. The most annoying part of it all though was the fact Max knew his name was Ash, not Alf.

"It's not Alf, it's Ashley—I mean Ash!" Ash yelled. There was silence for a moment with Ash regretting what he just said. Max began to snicker. Ash could even hear May giggle. Even Pikachu was snickering slightly.

"I can't believe you have a girl's name!" Max exclaimed, bursting out into laughter, "I knew your name had to be short for something."

"It can be a boy's name as well," Ash said embarrassedly, "Lot's of people have that name."

"Lot's of girls have that name," Max corrected, "So _Ashley, _what's your middle name? Is it Julian?"

"…No, it's not," Ash said slowly.

"Hey guys, I think something is going on in there!" May called out to them. Ash and Max quickly caught up and saw that May was pointing to a house. Loud banging noises were being made from the inside. There were also some yelps of pain and some faint cries of 'help', "Sounds like someone is getting hurt."

"Well whatever it is, it's not really any of our business," Max said.

"But someone might be seriously injured!" May protested, "What should we do…. Ash?"

Ash had apparently disappeared. She looked around and saw him checking out a large extension of the house. It looked to be a large store house of sorts, with large steel doors. It was facing in the direction of the sea.

"What are you looking at, Ash?"

Ash turned around and saw May walking up to him. Ash looked back at the storehouse. He said, "There something going on in there."

"Guys, like I said, it really isn't any of our business!" Max called out to them.

Ash and May turned around to face Max. Ash sighed and said, "You're right Max."

The front door of the house suddenly burst open and a large bundle was thrown out of it by two men with blue bandanas. The bundle landed hard on the concrete flooring and let out a muffled scream of pain. Upon further inspection, it was an aging man who was rather tall and was tied up and gagged. Getting over the initial shock, May called out her Torchic and told it cut the ropes with its Scratch attack. Once the man was no longer bound, he removed the piece of cloth that was a gag from his mouth and spoke hastily.

"They're going to get away with the fluid!" he yelled, "The fluid and my boat!"

Ash, May and Max looked at eachother with confused expressions, unsure on what to do. The man yelled again.

"They're going to get away with my boat and the resurrection fluid!" he said. This made the trio even more confused. Suddenly, the steel doors of the store house whirred as they opened slowly. Ash ran up to them to get a closer look. He saw a rather old boat slowly leaving the building. Three men and a woman, each dressed in black and blue uniforms and had blue bandanas, were on it. The woman was driving.

"Stop them!" the man yelled. The boat began to pick up speed. Ash did the only thing he could do and that was to jump on board and take control of the boat. Not the smartest of things to do, but he did it nonetheless. Before the boat could get too for away, Ash leapt off of the docks and onto the back of the boat.

"Ash!" May called out to him, not expecting him to act so quickly.

"Don't worry about me!" Ash called back, "Just take care of that man!"

"Looks like we've got an intruder," someone snickered. Ash turned around and saw two of the group of four smirking at him. The teen immediately recognised them as Team Aqua; the uniform was a dead give away.

"Hey kid, get out of here before you get hurt," the other one said. Ash glared at them, not at all intimidated.

He demanded, "Give back the boat and the fluid you stole!"

"How did you know about the resurrection fluid?!" one of them asked. The other one shook his head.

"It doesn't matter!" he yelled, "Let's just take care of this punk!"

The two each threw a Pokeball out onto the deck and two very big lobster-like Pokemon appeared side by side. It was red in colour and a bit of blue and yellow here and there. There was a yellow star on top of its head. Its pincers were absolutely enormous and looked like it could crush anything. Now Ash was slightly intimidated. The Pokemon snapped their pincers at him and looked ready to rip him to shreds.

(We're going to get'cha!)

(I was a bit hungry…)

Usually, Ash would scan the Pokemon on his Pokedex but the situation was too urgent for him to do so. Using the Pokedex would take too much time and give the Team Aqua member's Pokemon a chance to get him. To counter, Ash sent out Mightyena and Pikachu.

"Crawdaunt, use Bubblebeam!" one of them called out.

"Use Crabhammer!" the other called out.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt! Mightyena, use Iron Tail!" Ash retaliated.

One of the Crawdaunt opened its two pincers and shot out hundreds of tiny bubbles packed into a beam. Pikachu unleashed a strong electric charge and met the beam full on. The two attacks exploded on impact. The other Crawdaunt's Crabhammer was blocked by Mightyena's Iron Tail attack. The two Pokemon struggled for domination for a while before jumping back into their initial positions.

"Use Guillotine!" one of them said. The other ordered the same move. Both water-dark-types charged in with their pincers ready to guillotine their opponents.

"Both of you use Iron Tail!" Ash countered. The agile and speedy team of Mightyena and Pikachu charged up their respective Iron Tail attacks and jumped into the air. They both swung their tails at the water types. Both of the Crawdaunt were hit on the head, causing them to reel backwards, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu unleashed the attack and scored a direct hit. The two Pokemon were frazzled by the super-effective attack for a moment before the attack dispersed. Both Crawdaunt looked burned and tired, but still able to fight.

"Crawdaunt, hit'em with Crabhammer!"

"Blow them away with Bubblebeam!"

"Dodge them, both of you!" Ash countered.

One of the Crawdaunt lunged towards Pikachu with Crabhammer. Pikachu jumped over it. The attack hit the deck, creating a rather large hole. The other Crawdaunt's Bubblebeam was sidestepped by Mightyena. The beam also hit the deck and created a small explosion which blew off the back end of the boat completely. The explosion caused the boat to rock about. The two Team Aqua members tumbled 

over the side railing and into the ocean. The two Crawdaunt jumped in after them. Ash managed to hold on, thanks to some assistance from Mightyena. Pikachu, who was still air bourn at the time, landed safely on the deck.

"Thanks, Mightyena," Ash said in relief. He checked over the edge and saw the ships propeller blades were remarkably still intact. Despite some of the boat missing, the vessel was going at a fairly fast speed.

Another Team Aqua noticed the commotion and confronted Ash. Without saying anything, the man charged in and tried to grab Ash. The Kanto native quickly rolled out of the way. The Team Aqua member tumbled as he missed and fell off the back of the boat. Ash breathed another sigh of relief. There was only one to go. He just hoped the boat remained intact long enough for him to get the resurrection fluid.

He, Pikachu and Mightyena slowly walked over to the woman who was driving the boat. She noticed him and left the drivers seat. The boat didn't stop; it must've been placed on auto-drive.

"My my, aren't you persistent?" the woman asked rhetorically. She wore the same uniform accept she had a sleeveless blue jacket. She also had green hair, "If only Team Aqua had that sort of attitude."

"Give back the boat and the fluid!" Ash demanded once more. The woman laughed.

"You think I'll just give it back? Never!" she said. She then readied two Pokeballs, "You've done admirably well; coming this far. It'd be such a shame for you to die, wouldn't it? Maybe you should join us. That way I'd spare your life."

Ash gulped. His life was on the line, yet again. But he couldn't allow himself to be scared by this woman, "I'll never join the likes of you!"

The woman shook her head, "Such a pity; you'll just have to die, then."

She threw out her two Pokeballs. The first one to appear was a tall human shape Pokemon. It was extremely muscular and purple in colour. You could see its veins clearly. It had three gold lines on its head. It wore a pair of black trunks with a gold belt around them. The other one was a large duck-like creature, though it had no wings or feathers. It was light blue in colour and had a purple jewel on its forehead.

"Machoke, darling, use Focus Punch on Mightyena," she ordered calmly in a sweet tone. In the same tone, she ordered Golduck, "And you, Hun, use Ice Beam on Pikachu."

With amazing speed, Machoke ran in the limited space it had with a glowing fist. It punched Mightyena with force, nearly sending the dark type in the ocean. It struggled to stand up again. Golduck fired a light blue beam out of its beak. The beam wavered about in the air. Pikachu tried to jump out of the way, but the beam created a sharp block of ice when it the floor which caught Pikachu.

Ash had to retaliate quickly or this battle would be over, "Mightyena, use Poison Fang on Machoke! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Golduck!"

"Grab that Mightyena and use Seismic Toss!" the woman countered. Mightyena was caught in the massively strong arms of Machoke and slammed into the deck with force, "And Golduck, counter that Thunderbolt with Light Screen."

Pikachu's Thunderbolt was stopped by the translucent screen and reflected right back at it. Ash reacted quickly, "You use Light Screen as well!"

Pikachu generated the same shield. The reflected Thunderbolt hit the screen and was sent back with twice the momentum. Sparks flew everywhere as the attack discharged in the air.

Ash growled. Never before had he had to use Light Screen to defend his own attack. This battle was pretty one sided. He knew he was in trouble, but couldn't give up. He had to keep fighting or… die, as the woman threatened.

"Golduck, use Slash on Pikachu!" the woman called out. Golduck ran in and reared back its arm. It then swiped Pikachu away with its sharp claws. Pikachu landed near Mightyena. The woman smirked, "Now Machoke, finish them off with Focus Punch."

Machoke charged in but before he could reach them, lost his balance as the boat was rattled by something. Both Ash and the woman looked over the side and saw not one, not two, but three Crawdaunt ramming the boat. They rammed the boat again and both Ash and the woman stumbled. A test-tube with orange liquid into fell out of the woman's jacket pocket.

_That must be the resurrection fluid! _Ash thought to himself. He quickly picked the tube up and pocketed it.

"What are you three imbeciles doing?!" the woman demanded at the three Team Aqua members. Ash used the distraction to land some heavy hitting attacks.

"Pikachu, Double Edge! Mightyena, Take Down!" he called. Pikachu charged in quickly with a yellow aura surrounding it. Mightyena also charged in quickly. The two dangerous attacks hit their marks, sending both Golduck and Machoke backwards. The two didn't fall over, but were damaged nonetheless. Pikachu and Mightyena stood their, panting heavily.

Before the woman could react, the boat collided with a rather large rock. All of the Pokemon, Ash and the woman fell over. The woman hit her head on the control panel of the boat, knocking her out in the process and causing the control panel to short circuit. Ash picked himself up off of the floor and looked around.

The boat had almost been completely destroyed; there was hardly any of it left. Water was starting to fill up in the boat quickly. Ash could feel that the bit he was standing on was starting to sink.

"Good work, Mightyena. Return!" Ash said as he returned Mightyena to his Pokeball. Ash had only one option. He had to swim back to shore, which was a fair distance away. It was risky since the three Team Aqua members were still lurking about and there was no way he could out swim one Crawdaunt, let alone three of them. His only other options were to wait for help, or use Tailow to carry him back. However, there was no guarantee that there was help coming and Tailow was nowhere near strong enough to carry him and Pikachu all the way back to shore. Swimming back was the only option he had left. Besides, even if he sank with the boat he would have to swim back anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Ash dived into the ocean. Pikachu stood on his head so as to not get lost in the ocean. Ash swam as fast and as hard he could, but the current was a worth adversary against him. Pikachu's ears then perked up as it heard the sound of something approaching. He tapped Ash on the head.

(Their coming.) He said. Ash looked behind him and saw the three Team Aqua members chase after him.

"Pikachu, use Thunder!" Ash said frantically. Pikachu leapt off of his head and unleashed the massive charge. The three Aqua members and their respective Crawdaunt received an extra strong charge, seeing as how they were in the water. It was enough for Ash to get away, but the current was proving to be too strong.

Back at the docks, May, Max and the man had observed the battles on the boat and they were now witnessing Ash trying to swim against the current. They could see he was struggling and needed to do something. They asked the man whether or not he had a spare boat, to which he replied there was no time to get it ready. Max spotted a rope near the store house and pointed it out to May.

"There's no way we can throw this rope far enough…," May said. She was then struck with inspiration, "Unless…"

"Do you have a plan, May?" Max asked her. May nodded and called out her Wurmple. She picked up one end of the rope and threw it into the air.

"Wurmple, shoot the rope using String Shot!" she called out. Wurmple fired the sticky thread. The thread hit the rope. The more the thread extended, the further the rope went. May quickly grabbed onto the other end of the rope. The man and Max also grabbed hold of it. May then shouted out to Ash, "Ash! Grab the rope!!"

Ash looked up and saw a rope coming his way. He swam faster to reach it. Wurmple could not make the thread any longer so the rope fell into the water a bare metre away from Ash. The teen pushed him self hard to reach it. He finally managed to grab onto one end and gave it a tug. Noticing this, May, Max and the man started to pull him in. Ash let himself be pulled in; only kicking in the water to speed up the process before the Team Aqua members recovered.

A couple of minutes later, Ash finally made it back to the docks. He pulled himself onto land and knelt there on the ground for a while, catching his breath. He removed his hat and wringed it. It was mostly dry now. Ash stood up and dug into his trouser pocket. He pulled out a test tube of orange liquid that had luckily managed to stay in his pocket while he was swimming.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get your boat back," Ash apologised as he handed the man the test tube. The man pocketed it.

"Don't worry about it, laddie," he said, "The most important thing is that they didn't get away with the resurrection fluid."

"Just what is the resurrection fluid?" Max asked him.

"The resurrection fluid is a special fluid created by the Devon Corporation. It can apparently be used to resurrect fossilised Pokemon," the man explained, "Though I have no idea why Team Aqua would want it."

"Hm, me neither," Max said.

"You really shouldn't pull of dangerous stunts like that, Ash," May said, "You could have gotten seriously hurt."

Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "But I got the fluid back, didn't I?"

May sighed. In the short time she had been with Ash, she learned that he was pretty thick headed and a little dumb. A stunt like that was probably a natural thing for Ash to do.

"I should thank you kids," the man said, "If it weren't for you, Team Aqua would have escaped with this important liquid. The Devon Corp. will be very pleased."

"Ah, it was nothing…"

The man shook his head, "I owe you kids a favour for helping me out. You just tell me, Mr. Briney, whatever it is."

The three looked at each other and then May said, "Well… we do need a ride to Dewford Island. Do you have a spare boat?"

"Aye, I do," Mr. Briney said, "Do you want to set sail now?"

"Yes, please!"

"Then follow me," Mr. Briney said, "I have a boat that will get us there in no time."

* * *

Joaquin stood in front of the bars of his and Kyoku's holding cell whilst spinning a Pokeball on his index finger. He was loudly whistling to himself as Kyoku laced up his boots. The two were fully dressed in their day clothes.

"You can always rely on Team Aqua to be a handy distraction, eh Jo?" Kyoku asked the blond. He nodded.

"Yup, this is very convenient… almost too convenient," he commented.

"It's pretty stupid that the entire Rustboro Police Force went out to confront about four Team Aqua members," Kyoku chuckled, "Especially with guys like us in the building."

"And especially with a woman like Rouge lurking about," Joaquin said, "She's the queen of espionage."

"Indeed she is," Kyoku said standing up. He was also holding a Pokeball, "Okay. Pokeballs… check, no police officers… check, flimsy prison bars… check, we're all set."

Joaquin stopped spinning the Pokeball and stepped back to the back of the cell, "Then do your stuff."

"Aye, aye," Kyoku threw his Pokeball and out appeared his Skarmory, "You know what to do; smash those bars into pieces!"

Skarmory cried shrilly and used its Steel Wing attack to smash to bars with ease. It flew out of the cell and waited for Joaquin and Kyoku to step out. Kyoku called it back and placed the ball in his pocket.

"Do you think we should leave a note?" Kyoku asked.

"Nah, let's just get out of here before someone notices," Joaquin waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah," Kyoku said, "Oh yeah, we need some aliases. We're going to be over national television once they find about this breakout."

"Hmm… good point," Joaquin thought for a while, "I think I'll go with 'Alexander Jo Quinn', what about you?"

"Well _Alexander_, I think I'll go with 'Tiny'," Kyoku chuckled again. Joaquin rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, a police officer stepped into the room. He immediately noticed 'Alexander' and 'Tiny' and stared at them in shock. Before he could say anything, he was quickly taken care of by Alexander via a kick to the head. The officer hit the ground, out cold.

"Well then, shall we go?" he asked Kyoku.

"Yup, let's go," Kyoku said, "Watch out Slateport City, because here we come!"

Alexander rolled his eyes again, "Why does that seem so clitche?

* * *

As you may have noticed, I referred to Joaquin as Alexander towards the end. From this point onwards, Joaquin will be known as Alexander and Kyoku will be known as Tiny. So don't get confused by that.

This chapter seemed kind of fillerish, but there was a reason for that. I basically wanted to show that Ash, May and Max could handle Team Aqua and Magma on their own without any intervention from Team Ozone. In a way, it also severed as a reminder that Ash and May are the main protagonists of this story, since other characters have taken over that role as of late (i.e. Team Ozone). Actually, Team Ozone and Isaac are the main characters of their own respective story arcs that have a major impact on the main plot. Think of that what you will.

It also explained (well, mostly) Brock's absence. Also keep an eye out on the 'green haired woman', she may appear later. I feel as if this chapter tied up a couple of loose ends as well.

So, it's Dewford Island next chapter. It'll actually be a pretty short arc, probably around two to three chapters. There's not much to cover other than the gym battle and Granite Cave. Here's a little spoiler for you all: Steven will be appearing very shortly and a new attack will be learned by a certain Pokemon.

_To Araleon: _Even though Max is with Ash and May now, he's still in the developing ideas section. Now, as to your question about the movies; I personally think the movies could do well in this story. While the movies aren't canon, they're still apart of AG and can be made canon easily. Those movies have a lot to do with character development (specifically Max and May) as well. So yeah, the movies will most probably be apart of this story. In which case, the Jirachi: Wish Maker movie will be pretty soon. I might turn them into extra long, special chapters or I might turn them into two or three part chapters. We'll see. Oh, and don't worry about asking questions. In fact, this goes out to everyone; ask as many questions regarding the story as you want. I don't mind. You might not receive a full answer, but you will receive an answer (and most probably hint) nonetheless.

The last thing I want to say is this: I'm considering a title change, seeing as how the current is a bit long winded. What do you think? Feel free to make suggestions.

Anyway, please take the time out to review and look forward to the next chapter: released some time around next week, hopefully.


	11. Granite Cave

Dewford Island was located not too far away from the Hoenn main land; only half-a-days worth of a boat ride at a reasonable speed. Mr. Briney's 'Wingull-themed' boat was a high speed one and it was only a matter of moments before Ash and co. arrived at the tropical island of Dewford.

Stepping off the boat, Ash could immediately feel the rise in temperature. He looked up at the sun, noticing that it was shining brighter than before and the sky had no clouds; it was just a light blue as far as the eye could see. He tore his eyes away from the star and looked at May and Max. Both looked perfectly fine with the heat. Both of them had the right type of clothing; both wore shorts and short sleeved shirts while Ash had a pair of cargo trousers and a sleeveless sweatshirt. At least he had a hat to protect him from the sunlight, he supposed.

Ash checked on Pikachu and saw that he was fine; happily standing on his shoulder as usual and looking around the general area. There were tropical palm trees everywhere and the ground was mainly sand and dust, not the usual dirt and rock Ash was accustomed to. Further in the distance Ash could see tall cliffs and very rocky areas. The trek to Dewford Town, wherever it is, was going to be long and tiring one.

May looked up at Mr. Briney from the wooden dock she was standing on. She called out to him, "Thanks for bringing us here, Mr. Briney!"

"It wasn't a problem!" he called back down as his boat began to leave them, "I have to get back to Rustboro so you three take care!"

"We will!" May called back. She watched him leave for a moment. After he was out of eye shot, she turned to Ash and Max who were patiently waiting to get going.

"So Max, where exactly is Dewford Town?" Ash asked the boy. From the looks of things, there wasn't any towns for miles. This was exactly the situation where a PokéNavi would be useful. The guidebook wouldn't tell them exactly where to go and they would end being lost in a matter of minutes. The PokéNavi was a lot more specific and accurate.

Max took out the yellow device and opened it up. He pressed the button the front a couple of times and a map appeared on the small LCD screen. He examined the map for a moment; working out the best route. Finally, he came up with an answer.

"Right now, we're at the port on the northern-eastern corner of the island," Max explained, pointing to the correct place on the map. Ash and May nodded. He continued, "Dewford Town is located on the south-western corner of the island; right on the other side."

"Wait a minute; why did Mr .Briney drop us off here and not the town?!" May asked, suddenly annoyed with the old sailor. Wouldn't it be common sense for him to take them directly to the town and not leave them stranded on some corner of the island?

"Well, you didn't say Dewford Town specifically," Max answered in a know-it-all tone, "You just asked him to take us to Dewford Island."

"…Oops," May said, realising her mistake. _Just great, _she thought, _I just got us lost_. Now May was annoyed with herself for making such a stupid mistake.

"You never too bright, were you?" Max remarked with a smirk. May glowered down at he little brother, now annoyed with him,_ Ugh, today is just so annoying_.

"Watch what you say Max…," she threatened. Ash decided to intervene before a full-blown argument between the siblings could break out. By the end of this journey, Ash would be an expert at breaking up argument and other confrontations, he was sure.

"Which way should we go, Max?" he asked. May gave one last warning glare to her brother, to which he nervously gulped. May could be very scary when she wanted to be…

"The quickest way would be to go through the Granite Cave; which runs all the way down the eastern coast of Dewford Island and finishes part way through the southern coast. It sounds long, but the route is quite direct," Max informed them. He checked his PokéNavi for a minute, "I estimate that it would take at least a whole day to walk through the cave."

"A whole day inside a cave, huh," Ash said, looking in the direction of the tall cliffs that looked over the crystal clear blue sea. He assumed that Granite Cave ran through those cliffs, "Are there any other routes?"

Max shook his head, "The forest it too thick to navigate through and it practically covers this whole island. It'll be quicker to go through the cave."

"So either way, it's going to take a couple of days to get there," May surmised with a sigh.

"We better get moving then," Ash said, beginning to walk towards the cliffs, "Dewford Town isn't going to come to us."

"What a luxury that would be," May commented.

"I thought you liked travelling, May?" Ash asked her as she walked beside him.

"I do," she answered, "I just don't like having to walk the whole day."

Max, who was walking to Ash's left, piped up, "But just think of all the Pokemon we'll see while we walk! We might see some really rare ones!"

"Oh yeah, that would make my day…"

The trio walked on with Max occasionally pointing them in the right direction towards the cave. They made the occasional small talk, but it was mainly Max making some wise remarks about May and May reacting _appropriately_. Ash started to ignore them after Max received the third shot to the head. He really hoped that this wouldn't continue throughout the whole journey. Around fifteen minutes later, the trio stood in front a very large and rigid opening to a cave; Granite Cave to be precise. They could only see into it a couple of feet before the light succumbed to the darkness. The occasional squeak and whistle of the wind blowing through the tunnels could be heard clearly.

May glanced inside nervously, "I've never liked the dark," she admitted. Max nodded his agreement.

"Me neither…"

Ash looked around and noticed a couple of thick branches that had fallen from some of the trees. He picked up about five, placing four into his backpack and keeping one in his hand. He walked back over to the siblings who eyed him with confusion.

"What're you going to do with those sticks?" Max asked him.

"May, could you get Torchic to light this?" he asked her, ignoring Max for the moment.

"Okay…," May said, calling out the energetic chick Pokemon, "Torchic, could you set that stick on fire?"

Torchic nodded and blew out a couple of embers. The embers hit the wood and the stick ignited at the top, creating a make-shift torch. May thanked Torchic and returned it back to its Pokeball. Max then realised Ash's plan.

"Oh, I see, you're going to use that as our light source!" he said. Ash nodded.

"It's not that bright, but it'll do," the Kanto native said, "Don't worry though; we'll be in and out in no time."

"Yeah but, do you even know your way through this cave?" May asked him.

"No, I don't," Ash said slowly, "But caves are pretty easy to get through if you stick close to a wall."

"I'm still not so sure…"

"Come on May, it's all part of the experience!" Ash said. He then turned around and began to walk into the cave without hesitation. May and Max looked at eachother hesitantly before following him inside.

As expected, the tunnel was very dark and the fire barely lit up the path. Pikachu occasionally offered a few sparks to light up the path more. There was also a noticeable temperature drop in the cave, but it wasn't freezing; just mildly warm. Sometimes, some screeching could be heard and some crumbling, causing both Maple siblings to be startled. Both of them stood close to Ash.

"Maybe we should stay close together," May suggested.

"Or hold hands or something," Max said. As he said that, he grabbed hold of May's hand. He only did so he wouldn't get separated and lost from the group. He wasn't scared, or anything…

Ash, with the torch in his left hand and his right hand touching the wall to his right, looked back at the two, "Yeah, we should stick close to eachother. You should grab my shoulder since my hands are kind of full."

May reached out with her spare hand and placed in on Ash's left shoulder since his right was occupied by a certain electric type. The trio may not have known it, but what they were doing was very sensible. With barely any light and no knowledge on where to go exactly; the PokéNavi couldn't pick up the signal it need to function inside a cave, groups can be easily separated and lost.

The trio walked at a relatively slow pace. Since they didn't know of anything lurking within the cave, it was pivotal that they watch their step and tread carefully. They eventually came to an intersection; with one path leading one way and another leading another way. Ash looked down both pathways, unsure on which way to go.

"Where should we go?" he asked the two behind him.

"I have no idea," they both said. Ash sighed. At time like this, it was all down to luck. So, Ash handed May the torch as he searched through his bag. He pulled out one of the sticks and then put his back pack back in. Max caught on to what he was going to do.

"You're going to decide using chance?" he asked.

"Using chance?" May questioned.

"He's going to let the stick fall and what ever direction it points in is the direction we're going to go," Max explained.

"But what if it's the wrong way?"

"Then… I actually don't know," Ash admitted seriously. May and Max looked at him with shock.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" they both exclaimed.

"You're the professional traveller, you should know!" May said. Max nodded in agreement.

Ash sighed. This was a position he didn't usually find himself in. Before hand, he never had to handle the pressure of being a _leader_. He had never actually lead and directed his own journey. Sure, he made the decisions but never had to lead; that was usually Brock's job. Back then, he and Misty were entirely reliant on Brock to point them in the right direction and look after them. But now that Brock wasn't here, that task fell onto Ash as he guided two younger travellers who were totally reliant on him. He stared at both of them for a minute, thinking of the right thing to say.

"I don't naturally know my way through any cave," he said, trying not to sound irked, "I've never been in here. All I can do is use what I know to guide us. Unfortunately, I don't know much," there was silence for a while before Ash continued, "We just have to trust our instincts on this one. I promise you, we won't get lost and we will make it out of here."

"You're right, Ash," May said, "I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, me too," Max said. Ash smiled at both of them.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "Now; let's decide which way we're going to go."

Ash stood the stick up on the ground vertically before letting it drop. The hollow sound of the stick hitting the sandy floor echoed throughout the entire tunnel. Looking down, Ash could see that the stick was pointing towards the left. He nodded and picked the stick. He put back into his pack and signalled for Max and May to follow him down the left tunnel.

Assuming the same formation they were in before, the trio continued on down the tunnel. The sound of crumbling rocks could be heard clearly, causing the group to halt.

"What was that?" Max asked. Ash looked around using the torch and saw several little silver creatures biting at the cave walls and floor. There were loads of them; at least twenty or more, "Whoa, Aron!"

"Aron?" Ash questioned as he pulled out his Pokedex.

"**Aron: the Iron Armour Pokemon. This Pokemon has a body of steel. To make its body, Aron feeds on iron ore that it digs from mountains. Occasionally, it causes major trouble by eating bridges and rails." **

The pre-recorded voice of the Pokedex echoed loudly throughout the cave, grabbing the attention of the feeding Aron. Every one of them glared at the trio angry that they were disturbed.

"Uh oh.." Ash said, nervously backing up.

"Should we run?"

"I think so," he said. He then addressed the Aron, "Um… we'll just be going now. Sorry for—"

Ash was cut off by the sound of multiple jars snapping and several growls from the armour Pokemon. He suddenly turned around quickly and said, "It's time to go!"

He dropped the fire and grabbed both May's and Max's hand. He then dragged them with him as he ran through the darkness. He had no idea where he was going; he was just running to get away from the angry Pokemon. There was no time to berate himself over the use of the Pokedex.

Ash suddenly felt like he was running on air. He would look around, but he couldn't see anything. He felt Max and May tighten their grips on his hands in anticipation of the inevitable. Suddenly, he felt the air rush pass him and in a matter of moments, fell back first on stony ground. He cried out in pain, but it was muffled by something landing on top of him.

Groaning could be heard as the person on top of him rolled off him. Ash sat up, albeit slowly because of the sharp pain he was feeling in his back. He noticed that wherever they were was dimly lit up by some type of light source. It was bright enough for him to see his hand 

clearly. Looking around, he saw May and Max standing up not too far from him. He stood up and looked around in confusion. In a matter of seconds, they had ended up in a completely unknown chamber that was mysteriously lit.

"What just happened?" he heard May ask.

"I think we fell down a hole, or something," Max answered.

"We did? But wouldn't it hurt if we hit the floor from that high up?" May asked, looking up at the ceiling where a fairly large hold could be seen.

"Usually…"

"I think you both landed on me," Ash grunted as walked up to them, "My back really hurts…"

"So where are we?" Max said, looking around the chamber.

"Lost, probably," May answered worriedly, "We have no idea what just happened, or where we are, or how to get out. We're officially lost!"

"I hate to say it May, but you're right," Max admitted.

"Oh, this is hopeless," May groaned, "We should've just taken the long way around!"

"It would've been less troublesome, that's for sure," Max agreed, "We might be trapped down here!"

"Max, don't scare me like that!" May exclaimed. She was starting to get scared. She was stuck in a cave with no way out. The situation seemed entirely hopeless, no matter how much she wished it not to be. Two weeks into her first journey and they were already going to die…

"I'm serious!" Max said sadly.

"Guys, we're not trapped!" Ash yelled, "We'll find a way out! Let's not give up hope yet!"

"Do you see any way out, Ash?!" May asked him. Ash looked around.

"No, but we'll find one," he said confidently. He wasn't about to give up hope yet. May and Max, on the other hand, looked ready to as they gave him sad and hopeless looks, "Come on guys, you can't give up hope; even if it's hopeless."

"But this is beyond hopeless…"

"No, it's not!" Ash yelled again, startling the two. He calmed down, "Sorry for snapping like that but I really mean it; this isn't hopeless. I've been in a situation like this before, a couple of years ago."

"You were?" Max questioned him. Ash nodded, remembering the events that happened during his first journey.

"Yeah, it was during my first journey; about a couple of months into it. Brock, Misty; a girl I was travelling with, and I had just boarded the S.S. Anne. The ship sank. We, along with Team Rocket, were the only people who didn't escape. We were trapped as the boat was balanced on a rock, upside down," Ash explained, "We all worked together and never gave up. Eventually, we managed to escape and used our water Pokemon to swim back to the surface."

May and Max were silent as Ash told his story. Ash decided to wrap it up, "The point is; we never gave up and we set our minds to finding a way out. We didn't once think about how hopeless the situation way; we didn't once think about how it was the end.

"This is no different. If we remains hopeful and determined, we can find a way out. We just have to _try. _We'll never get anywhere if we just sit around here, thinking that we're trapped!"

May and Max mulled over Ash's words and slowly but surely came to realise that he was right. Throughout this entire trip, they had been pessimistic; always thinking that they were going to get lost and things were hopeless when they were. Ash was the only one who remained upbeat, positive and optimistic. Ash was setting an example but they weren't following it.

"Ash, I-we're, really, really sorry," May said sadly, "We've been nothing but nothing but annoyances to you; being all pessimistic and not trying to improve the situation. I wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to ditch us."

Ash was taken by surprise by that statement. What May said couldn't be any further from the truth. They were anything but annoyance; a hindrance to his journey. Ash appreciated their company immensely. They were his friends regardless of their attitude towards situations like this. If Ash had to solve this problem all by himself, then he would, more for their sake then his own.

In a soft tone, he said, "I would never ditch you because of this. In fact, I was like this as well at one point. But I learned that as long as you never give up, you can achieve anything. You'll both learn that as well. Now then, how's about we find ourselves an exit."

"Yeah… let's do it!" May exclaimed, pumping a fist. Ash's words had struck a chord in her and had made her realise many things. She was now optimistic that they could get out, as long as Ash and Max were with her.

Max nodded his head ecstatically, "Yeah, we'll get out, no problem!"

"Alright, that's the spirit you guys!" Ash said, "Let's split up and see if we can find something; we'll cover more ground that way."

"Okay!" May and Max said as they split up and stared to look around in different areas. Ash watched them with a smile as went to search another area as well.

"They'll learn, right Pikachu?" Ash asked the rodent.

(Yeah, they will.) Pikachu responded, (You know, you're pretty good at those morale boosting pep talks.)

"Ah, it was just beginners luck," Ash said sheepishly, understanding what Pikachu just said.

Ash looked around the general area for several minutes, turning over rocks and checking cracks. There was no visible 'escape route', or at least none that he hasn't noticed. A few minutes searching later, and still nothing. Ash frowned, there had to be something.

"Hey guys, I found something!" May called out to both Ash and Max. Both of them ran over to her location, "Look at his tree route and this spring of water!"

Ash and Max examined the very thick and long tree route that snaked from the water source, up the all and through the ceiling. Ash smiles widely at May, "Great find May!"

"Ah, it was nothing…"

"That route must lead to the outside," Max said, "Tree's can't grow inside caves; they need a lot of sunlight."

"So if we follow the tree route, we'll find a way out?" May asked. Max nodded.

"Theoretically, yes," he said, "Someone should check."

"I'll go," Ash said. He gripped the root and placed a foot on it. He found it to be remarkably sturdy and had good grip. Slowly at first, Ash began to climb upwards; using the vines sticking out of the route for balance and leverage. He gained speed as he climbed and in no time was right at the top of the chamber, which was pretty high up.

"Be careful up there Ash!" May shouted from the ground level. Ash flashed her thumbs-up and examined the spot where the route went through the ceiling. The gap was no where near big enough for them to fit through but the rock seemed to be weak. He tested it be tapping it with his fist and some small pieces fell off. Ash formulated a plan. He climbed downwards a little bit and created a fair bit of distance between himself and the ceiling.

"What's he up to?" Max asked, noticing that Ash had something in mind.

Satisfied with the distance, Ash put his plan into action, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on the ceiling!"

Pikachu jumped off of his shoulder and smashed his glowing tail into the ceiling. The weak rock was easily destroyed by the Iron Tail attack. Some of it fell down to the floor. Luckily, none of them fell on Ash but some nearly fell on May and Max.

"Ash, are you crazy!" May shouted at him. Ash grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry!" he said, "But look, I made a way out!"

True to his word, Ash had created a suitable way out for them. Ash poked his head through the hole and saw more tunnels similar to the one at the start. Ash climbed up the root and into the tunnel. He stood up on the floor and waited for May and Max. When they got to the top, he helped them up. Now they were in a darkish tunnel.

"What now?" May asked.

"We keep following the root," Ash said, pointing to the tree route that was still going through the ceiling, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail again!"

Pikachu repeated the same process and received the same result. The trio climbed up again and found that they could smash the rock any more; it was far too strong. Fortunately, the tunnel began to slope upwards, signifying that they were getting higher and higher. The 

trio followed the path. The tunnels were dark, but a quick ember from Torchic solved that problem. This time, the group used up the three remaining sticks in order to create a stronger light source.

After a whole hours worth of walking, the group found some rays of sunlight bursting in from somewhere. The followed them and found the cave exit! But they noticed something wrong…

Waiting for them by the exit were the Aron from earlier. In front of them was a much, much larger one. It was obviously not an Aron, so Ash examined it in his Pokedex.

"**Lairon: the Iron Armour Pokemon and the evolved form of Aron. Lairon tempers its steel body by drinking highly nutritious mineral spring water until it is bloated. This Pokemon makes its nest close to delicious spring water." **

"Looks like the Aron are still angry with us," Max pointed out, backing up slightly, "You think we should run?"

"But we're so close to the exit!" May argued, "Can't we just plough our way through them?"

"Are you nuts, May?!" Max asked, "Those Aron are no pushovers. They even have a Lairon with them!"

"There's no way we're running back into that cave!" May protested.

"We'll create an opening and then run for it!" Ash said, taking control over the situation, "May's right, we can't afford to go back into that cave!"

"Then you better act quickly because here they come!" Max exclaimed. As he said, the Aron and Lairon charged in at them. Max hid behind May, absolutely terrified of the creatures.

"Pikachu, use Thunder!" Ash called out. Pikachu shocked the steel types with the enormous charge, although some of the bolts reflected everywhere and smashed into the walls, causing some rock to beak off. The Aron and Lairon, however, remained tough.

"May, use your Torchic!" Max advised, "Fire-types are strong against steel-types!"

"Right!" May said, "Go, Torchic!"

Torchic appeared from her Pokeball and awaited for a command, though she was very frightened of the Pokemon in front of her.

"Torchic, use Ember!" May ordered. Torchic opened its beak and shot out lots of little balls of fire. The steel-types were hit full on and felt the effects.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash called out. Pikachu released a smaller but still powerful charge, enough to stun the Pokemon long enough for the trio to run away, "Come on, guys!"

Ash, May and Max ran as fast as they could towards the exit. They could literally taste freedom but the Lairon blocked their path. Ash wasted no time in trying to get rid of it.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" he yelled. Pikachu leapt out in front of it and swung the hard-as-steel tail into Lairon abdomen. The Pokemon was sent flying out of the cave and landed on its back. The group ran out of the cave and found themselves on top of large cliff that overlook the island. There was no obvious way down.

But there was no time to think about that as the Lairon and the Aron recovered and charged after them. The Lairon leapt out in front with a glowing claw.

"That's Metal Claw!" Max exclaimed.

"Iron Tail!" Ash countered. Pikachu met the attack with its Iron Tail, but the Lairon was stronger and swatted it away. It then set it sights on May's Torchic.

"Use Ember!" May said. Torchic shot out the fireballs again but Lairon was hardly effected. Lairon swiped Torchic away with Metal Claw, "Ah, Torchic!"

Torchic managed to stand up. Lairon kept charging at it and would've hit with Take Down had Pikachu not stood in the way of the attack and use Thunder. The attack was strong enough to send Lairon into the pack of Aron.

"That was a close one," Ash said in relief, "What should we do with them?"

"They're bound to recover soon," Max said.

"I know!" May suddenly exclaimed in realisation. She threw a Pokeball out, "Come on out, Wurmple!"

The worm Pokemon appeared and yawned, signs that it was sleeping inside its Pokeball. May put her plan into action.

"Use String-Shot to tie up those Pokemon!" May told it. Wurmple faced the Aron and the Lairon and shot out a long, stick thread. The thread began to wrap around the steel-types and eventually form into a type of cocoon. With the Pokemon immobilised for the time being, the trio were free to work out where to go from here.

The cliff was pretty high up and was as tall as some of the trees. The cliff face was too flat to climb down and they couldn't jump off. Ash rummaged through his back pack and pulled out a rope.

"We can use this to climb down," he explained. He looked around for something to tie it to, but couldn't find anything, "But how…?"

"We could use Wurmple's String Shot," May suggested, "We could use it to stick the rope to the cliff face and then climb down."

"Good idea, May," Ash said, "Let's do it."

"Okay Wurmple, use String-Shot on the rope!" May told it. May held one end against the cliff face as Wurmple stuck it to the face with its String Shot. May tested the rope a couple of times by tugging it and found it be safe and secure, "Wow Wurmple, your String Shot is really strong!"

Wurmple was happy to be praised. It suddenly began to glow white. Ash, May and Max looked at it with wide eyes.

"What's happening to Wurmple?" May asked worriedly. Wurmple began to grow and change shape. Eventually, the light died down and a completely different creature was left in its place.

"Wurmple just evolved!" Max exclaimed.

"Evolved?" May asked confusedly.

"Some Pokemon evolve into a new form when they grow stronger and more experienced," Ash explained, "Not all of them do, but most do evolve. Some even evolve twice!"

"Wow! So what did Wurmple evolve into?" May asked as she took out her Pokedex, **"Silcoon, the cocoon Pokemon and the evolved form of Wurmple. Silcoon tethers itself to a tree branch using silk to keep from falling. There, this Pokemon awaits quietly for evolution. It peers out of its silk cocoon through a small hole." **

"Silcoon evolve into Beautifly," Max informed her.

"You mean like the one Janet had?!" May asked excitedly.

"Yup."

"That's so cool! I'll be sure to win some contests now!"

"Whoa, whoa, let's not get too ahead of ourselves," Max said, "You still have to prepare for your first contest; wherever it is. You can't just walk in with a Beautifly and expect to win."

"Oh yeah, I guess your right," May said, calming down.

"Let's worry about that later," Ash said, "For now, let's get off of this cliff."

May returned both Torchic and Silcoon to their respective Pokeballs and climbed down the rope. Once all three of them were at the bottom, Ash tugged the rope three (after a considerable amount of effort) and put it away. Seeing that it was getting late, and that they were tired and hungry, they decided to set up camp. For dinner, they ate some ready made sandwiches that they purchased in Rustboro City not too long ago.

The group had their sleeping bags out and were resting on them. Max was already asleep in his. It was around nine in the evening. Ash and May couldn't believe just how long they spent in that cave. They arrived on the island at around eleven in the morning and had set up camp at around seven. That was eight hours in that cave.

Ash's back was giving him some discomfort so he removed his hat and sweatshirt. He then felt around the sore spot on his back and winced in pain.

"Hey May? Could you check something for me?" he asked the girl. She looked at him curiously.

"Sure, what do you need?" she responded. Ash showed her his back and rolled up his shirt.

"Is there a bruise there, or something?" he asked. May examined it. There was a fairly big bruise with a couple of cuts, but nothing serious.

"There is, but it's not that big," May said, "They're a couple of cuts as well. Is that from when you landed on your back?"

Ash unrolled his shirt and said, "Yeah, probably."

"Does it hurt?"

"A little bit," Ash answered, "It's nothing serious."

"That's good," May said, "Do you get hurt often, Ash?"

Ash thought about it. During the years, he has gotten hurt and has technically died… he doesn't know how that worked out but decided not to tell her that. She probably wouldn't believe him anyway, "A few times; some bad and some not so bad. It happens, you know? What do you ask?"

"Oh, I was thinking that since you seem to get hurt quite often; well, ever since I've met you anyway, we should buy a first aid kit, or something, just in case," May explained. She was right. On the day she met Ash, he got bitten on the leg by a Mightyena and today, he landed hard on his back. There were also a couple occasions in the forest where he could've been hurt, not to mention the confrontation with Team Aqua just yesterday.

"Yeah, that's true," Ash agreed, "So when are you going to start training for your contest?"

"To be perfectly honest, I don't even know how to train," May admitted embarrassedly, "I don't even know what I'm going to do for the contest!"

"I'll show you how to train tomorrow," Ash offered, "That is, if you want me to."

"Hmm… I don't want to distract you from your gym battle preparation," May said thoughtfully. Ash shook his head.

"It doesn't matter," he said, "I can train later in the day."

"You'd really put off your own training just to show me how to train?" May asked in surprise. In the short time she had known Ash, she learned that hardly anything puts him off of training and battling. Very little could throw off his focus when it comes to battling. She may be blowing this out of proportion (as she didn't know him too well yet) but the fact that Ash is putting her first surprised her and was a very kind gesture.

"Yeah, it's important that you know how," Ash explained, "Besides, there's nothing wrong with spending a little extra time together, is there?"

"No there's not," May said, "Thanks, Ash."

* * *

And that's the end of a rather, I must admit, poor chapter. It's definitely not one of my best but it served its purpose: additional character development and an additional filler in-between the last gym battle and the on coming up. And Wurmple evolved, which is also very important.

My original intent was to have Steven appear in this chapter but then thought he deserved more than just a short cameo appearance. So, I plan on him appearing in the movie chapter that's coming up VERY soon.

Yes, I did some research and found that Jirachi: Wish Maker first aired in Japan in-between the episodes "Having a Wailord of a Time" and "Win, Lose or Drew". So, I'm assuming that the film was set somewhere around the general area of Slateport City (just assuming). My plan is to make the movie canon to my storyline yet still keep it 'special' in its own right. So when exactly will this chapter appear? After the next chapter OR after the next chapter that will be after this chapter… so either Chapter 13 or 14. I don't know if that's too soon, so tell me what you think about that.

I'll tell you this now since it won't do much harm. Four additional members to the original movie cast are set to appear. One of them is Steven, one is an additional OC who I will not tell you off yet, and the other two and two you already know and are 'heading in the general area'.

_To __XxabridgedgirlyxX_: You actually spotted typos? I'm wondering how I didn't since I edit and proof read my own chapters… ah, it might be my Microsoft Word 2007 screwing with me again. You made a good point about the whole Thunder-water conducts electricity thing. At the time of writing, I really wasn't sure if Ash would get shocked as well (my science is a tad rusty) so I just said that he didn't. My argument would be that the three Aqua members and the Crawdaunt absorbed most of the charge but… yeah, I don't know. Plot device? Maybe.

Nothing else to say other than: please take the time out to review. Thank you.


	12. Lots of Battling

Dewford Town was the only town on the remote tropical Dewford Island and in comparison to some of Hoenn's most prestigious and busy metropolises' it was merely a hamlet; made up of a small portion of houses and shops built from brick and wood. Despite its small size, Dewford Town was an immensely popular place, or more specifically, holiday destination. The white sandy beaches and turquoise sea water and beautiful corrals made it a dream destination. What it lacked in attractions it made up for natural beauty and friendly people. The environment around it was the biggest attraction of all.

When Ash, May and Max arrived sometime in the early afternoon, the first thing they wanted to do was strip down into their swimsuits and go swimming. It was a reflex; a natural reaction produced on sight. One look at the beach and the mass population of people occupying it was enough to throw them off, however, much to their disappointment. After a taxing physical and mental ordeal through the tunnel known as Granite Cave some rest and relaxation was welcome before they got down to business again. It was then unanimously decided amongst the trio that they would not leave town until they have experienced the beach. For now, though, it was time for training – Pokemon Contest training.

This was ultimately May's decision and Ash did not need reminding of the promise he had made her the night before. Of course, Max was up for anything involving Pokemon. With this in mind, the trio sought out a clearing where they could train in privacy. The small town made this easier and with practically every resident enjoying the beach privacy was assured.

It was a typical clearing: An area of grass; acres of short and drying green grass with tad bits of sand blown across from the beach. Surrounding them were many palm trees from the forest with fruit and berries occupying their many branches. Here, Max sat under the shade that their leaves produced and silently observed. Ash and May stood in the centre a fair distance apart, but still close enough to talk without shouting.

May was impulsively unsure of what to do now. She wanted to work on making a Contest appeal and had some vague ideas, but she didn't know how to implement them into her first training session.

"So May, what do you plan on doing first?" the raven haired teen asked the brunette, his arms on his hips and a smile, an ever present smile, on his face. He was smiling because this brought back memories of his first training session where Brock had to talk him through all the fundamentals. He wandered if May could do better than him.

"Well, I… don't know," May admitted, laughing sheepishly, "I want to practice some Contest appeals, but I don't know how!"

Max sighed and walked over to them, his face one of exasperation. Typical older sister, he thought; the same old ditsy older sister. He was supposed to be _learning_ on this journey, not _teaching_. He cleared his throat to get Ash and May's attention. Then, he started speaking in a know-it-all tone, one that suggested that he knew everything and they knew nothing.

"Before you can even think about practicing appeals or even battling, you need to know your Pokemon's attributes and characteristics," he explained, "If you don't know them, how do you plan on showing them off? That's the whole point of a Contest, isn't it, to show off your Pokemon?"

"Oh come on Max, I know everything about my Pokemon!" May declared albeit hesitantly. Max gave his sister an incredulous look. He could read her like a book; and she was probably the equivalent to a children's picture book.

"Okay then, answer this question," Max started, "Does your Torchic like the dark?"

"It, um…"

"What's Torchic's nature?"

"I…"

"What is Torchic's coat made of?"

"It's made of…," May trailed off, thinking hard. She didn't know, "Fine, I don't know anything about my Pokemon! You happy now?"

"Very."

"Grr…"

"Whoa, whoa, guys calm down!" Ash intervened, playing mediator once again. Pikachu added its own words, though no one but Ash could understand them, "We can't train if we're all worked up like this."

"I'm not the one that's worked up, it's her," Max pointed out.

"I wouldn't be so worked up if you had kept your mouth shut!" May argued.

"I was only trying to help!"

"You didn't have to be so cynical about it!"

"It's not my fault you're such an airhead!"

Ash grunted in frustration. They weren't going to get anywhere like this. He first thought was to just let them argue until they tire themselves out but thought better of it, reminding himself of May's need to train and prepare for her Pokemon Contest. He watched agitatedly as the two bickered back and forth. Finally, his last nerve spent, he decided to stop this with some force.

"Pikachu, shut them up with a small shock," he told the yellow rat. Pikachu happily complied, his ultra-sensitive hearing being a curse at this very moment. He produced a tiny charge, barely enough for one Thundershock attack. May and Max felt the shock and were electrocuted for a few seconds. When the electrocution stopped they stood there, some of their hair on end and parts of their clothes burned. Their eyes were wide open in, excuse the pun, shock.

"Sorry about that, but it was only way to get you guys to stop talking," Ash explained, "Now, are we ready to start some training or do I need to get Pikachu to shock you again?"

"No no, I'm ready," May said her full attention now on Ash. Max went back to his spot and sat down. He set to work on his hair; he looked like he had an afro.

"Good," Ash said, "What Max said was actually true; you can't use your Pokemon or anywhere else if you don't understand them and what they can do."

"So how do I learn about my Pokemon?" May asked, "Do I read from a book or study it, or what?"

Ash shook his head, "The best way is to battle with your Pokemon."

"Battle?"

Ash nodded, "The more you battle with your Pokemon, the more the bond between you and the Pokemon grows. Through that bond, you'll learn. This is one of those things you just can't learn from any text book."

Max took exception to that comment, "I bet you could! There are some things you can only learn from a text book!"

"Ok ok, I understand Max!" Ash called back. He turned his attention back to May who, for the past ten seconds, had been sorting out her hair. She stopped when Ash started talking again, "So, maybe you and I should have a battle. You need to be able to battle in a Contest anyway and once your learn about your Pokemon, practicing appeals will be easy."

"Me battle you? I don't know," May said. She was fifty-fifty on this; worried and unworried at the same time. She was worried because it was _Ash _she was facing; the experienced and talented trainer. She, the rookie and trainer for around three weeks, stood little chance of winning. On the other hand, she was glad that her first battle would be against Ash for it's a lot easier facing a friend who won't judge you for anything. She made her decision, "Alright, I'll face you."

Ash nodded and smiled, "Ignore the fact that I'm an experienced trainer and just enjoy the experience. Go at your own pace; you're not battling to impress me, you're battling to learn."

May returned the smile, feeling a tad more confident yet still unsure. She decided to just wing it and see how things turn out. She has nothing to lose, after all. She plucked out Torchic's Pokeball from her fanny pack and threw it out in front of her. Torchic burst from the ball, looking as energetic and as hyperactive as ever, "I'm ready!"

Ash decided to use Tailow in this battle, seeing as how it needed some extra training for the upcoming gym battle. The Tiny Swallow Pokemon appeared to be eager to fight and impress.

(I'm gonna whip your ass!) Tailow proclaimed. Torchic cocked its head in confusion.

(What's an ass?)

(Uh…)

"This will be a proper two-on-two battle. We'll talk about what you need to work on afterwards, okay?" Ash said.

"Okay!" May called back, "I'll start! Use Ember, Torchic!"

"Dodge it Tailow," Ash countered. Tailow leisurely avoided the small flames and started to fly towards Torchic, "Go on with Peck!"

Tailow dive-bombed Torchic and pecked it on the head several times before flying back around. He went to peck Torchic in the forehead.

"Use Scratch!" May called. Torchic raised one of its talons and tried to scratch Tailow in the face but the agile flying type easily flew above the attack, "Hit it with Ember!"

Torchic opened its beak and fired multiple balls of fire in one go. Tailow easily dodged each one by manoeuvring about in mid-air. Torchic chirped in frustration. May felt the same as she clenched a fist.

_Why can't I hit Tailow? It's not even moving as fast as it can! It's holding back on us… _May thought as she kept a careful eye on the flying-type, looking out for any incoming attacks. She looked at Ash, who was calmly observing Torchic and waiting for an attack, _He's so calm, too calm… That's it! We'll take advantage of this! _

"Torchic, calm down and focus on Tailow!" May called out. Torchic stopped chirping and narrowed its eyes at Tailow, focusing as hard as it could. Once May thought Torchic was focused enough, she called out, "Now use Ember!"

Torchic breathed out the fireballs again. Tailow dodged at the same speed, but the attack was remarkably close to scorching its wing. Ash and Tailow were surprised at how close that attack was. Tailow couldn't get over the initial shock quick enough to avoid an incoming scratch attack from Torchic. Tailow managed to stay in the air, but was blinded by the pain. May took advantage and ordered an Ember attack.

"Double Team!" Ash called out. Tailow suddenly disappeared and multiple copies appeared in its place. The attack missed. May was looking quickly, trying to determine which the real one was but they all looked the same. Ash took some time to regroup.

_She's starting to get the hang of this, _he mused, _It's time for me to pick up the pace a little, _"Go Tailow use Wing Attack!"

The copies of Tailow suddenly disappeared as Tailow came swooping in at top speed; it was almost like a blur. You could just about see Tailow's wing start to glow white.

"Dodge it Torchic!" May called hesitantly, wandering if her timing was right. Torchic jumped to avoid the attack but landed rather awkwardly.

"Come back round and use Peck!"

"Dodge it!"

Tailow swooped in again and tried to land a peck on Torchic's head but the Chick Pokemon clumsily side stepped. It struggled to stay balanced. Ash used this to his advantage.

"Quick Attack!" he called out. Tailow sped in at amazing speeds and tackled Torchic. May gasped as Torchic flew through the air and landed on its back.

"Torchic!" she called out in concern for her starter. Torchic slowly and steadily rose to its feet. Thankfully, it wasn't hurt too badly but that attack must have done some damage, _Maybe those hits earlier were just a fluke…_

"You're doing great May, keep it up!"Ash called out to her with a grin. She looked at him in surprise, "'The tougher the opponent, the stronger you fight'! Remember that!"

A confident grin then formed on May's face. If Ash was good at anything, it would most certainly be motivating people. We've new found confidence; she called out her next attack, "Use Peck, Torchic!"

"You use Peck as well, Tailow!" Ash countered. Both bird-like Pokemon clashed beaks as they tried to out peck each other. May then decided to try something.

"Use Ember!" she followed up. Tailow was caught unawares as Torchic suddenly opened its beak and fired multiple fire balls right in Tailow's face. Tailow was flung backwards and cried as it tried to regain its eye sight. It regained it right at the last minute as Torchic came in for another Peck. It spun to dodge it. Torchic was persistent though and tried to hit it again. Tailow dodged right at the last second and set it sights on Torchic. This match was over.

"Wrap it up with Wing Attack!" Ash called, sensing the opportunity. Tailow's wing glowed white as it charged in. It then struck Torchic with one of the wings with force. Torchic fell to the ground, knocked out after a valiant effort. May gasped in surprise; her short burst of confident offence cancelled out in a matter of moments.

"Thanks Torchic, you did great," she said as he recalled the fire-type to its Pokeball. She was disappointed that she lost but was proud of the effort that Torchic made. She was proud with herself for battling well against someone like Ash.

"You did really well, May," Ash praised, "You almost beat me on your first try! You just need to be a bit more confident in yourself and your Pokemon and you'll definitely improve as you gain more experience."

"You really think so?"

"I know so," Ash said. Max walked up to them and clapped.

"I didn't think you'd do so well, May," he said, "I thought Ash would thrash you! Looks like Ash isn't as good as I first thought…"

Ash grinned sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head, "Thanks Max…"

"But anyway, you did really well. You need to work on your defence, though, or you'll end up taking too much collateral damage," Max commented, "You have this problem as well, Ashley."

Ash flinched, "Yeah, I'm working on it."

"One step at a time, right?" May added. She then called out her Silcoon and said, "Shall we carry on?"

Ash moved back into position and grinned, "Of course! I won't let up this time!"

"Are you using Tailow again, Ash?" Max asked in surprise, "Don't you think it's battled enough?"

Ash shook his head, "Tailow is no where near tired; it'll fight even if it is."

(Yeah!) Tailow chirped. If there was anyone who knew Tailow better than Tailow himself, it would be Ash.

"I'll start this time," Ash said suddenly, "Use Quick Attack!"

Tailow swooped in speedily and landed a body check on the cocoon Pokemon. Silcoon didn't even budge, however, and remained still.

"Follow up with Peck!"

"Use Harden!" May countered. Silcoon tensed itself as it received the full brunt of the attack. Silcoon looked absolutely fine, "I knew looking up Silcoon's attacks in the Pokedex would be worthwhile! Use String Shot, Silcoon!"

Silcoon shot out a long sticky thread and looked to immobilise Tailow but the agile flying-type dodged. Tailow then swooped in and landed a Wing Attack, but Silcoon remained strong and fired a Poison Sting attack.

"Dodge it and use Peck!" Ash called out, surprised that Silcoon had withstood several super-effective flying type attacks. Tailow flew away from the poisonous needles and went to peck Silcoon.

"Harden!" May countered. A sheen spread over Silcoon as its defences rose enough to take the attack without any major damage. Suddenly, Silcoon began to glow white and change shape…

"It can't be….," Ash gasped at the sight. May looked on with wide eyes as Silcoon began to morph into the shape of a butterfly. The white glow dispersed and revealed a beautiful Beautifly in all its glory.

"It's a Beautifly…" May said in amazement.

"All that experience it gained as a Wurmple must have been enough for it to evolve to it's final stage in the space of a day!" Max hypothesised.

Beautifly suddenly set its sight on Tailow and flapped its shiny wings hard. Several waves of shiny silver powder were suddenly brewed and blown towards an unsuspecting Tailow. The Tiny Swallow Pokemon was hit straight on by each wave for a few seconds. Tailow flopped to the ground. Beautifly had just knocked out Tailow!

Ash was stunned at the sudden turn of events. So was May, but it soon subsided into delight as she hugged her new Beautifly. She exclaimed, "We did it, Beautifly!"

Ash returned Tailow to its ball and smiled at the scene. He hadn't lost the whole battle, but felt that May deserved this little victory. Beautifly perched itself on May's head.

"I now know what I want to do for my first Pokemon Contest," May proclaimed, "I want to practice it now, but Beautifly looks too tired."

"That's great May," Ash said, "I hope it goes well."

"Yeah, me too."

"So Ash, when are you going to challenge the gym?" Max suddenly asked.

"In a couple of hours," Ash said. This battle has pumped Ash up somewhat and he felt it was ample training and preparation for the battle coming up.

"Do you know what Pokemon the gym leader uses?" Max asked.

"No," Ash answered simply. Most of the time, he has no idea what Pokemon the gym leader uses until the battle starts, "But I'm ready for anything."

He knew he must always expect the unexpected.

* * *

The Dewford Town gym looked remarkably normal in comparison to some other gyms. It was a simple wooden building that resembled a fighting dojo, but not as extravagant as the fighting dojo the Petalburg Gym resembled. It was around two hours after the training session in the clearing and now Ash was ready to take on the gym leader. Confidently, he opened the large double doors and stepped in. Even the inside looked relatively normal; a simple marked out battlefield on a plain surface with seating surrounding it. The first thing Ash saw were four people of varying sizes, each wearing a karate suit, with their backs turned to him.

"So, another challenger has come," a male on the far left said. He had spiky brown hair and looked very muscular.

"Will he succeed?" another one asked, this time a female with green hair tied into a long ponytail. She was standing on the far right.

"Or will he fall?" a second male asked. He was standing next to the green haired female. He was completely bald and was rather short.

"We shall see…," said the last of the four, a female with short blue hair who stood next to the first male.

Ash, May and Max looked on confusion. Ash hesitantly stepped forwards and said, "Um… my name's Ash Ketchum and I've come for a gym battle. Where's the gym leader?"

"He's not here," the blue haired woman said, "But we will take his place."

"Okay… who are you guys?"

The four suddenly turned around and struck the same pose. They performed moves in perfect synchronicity as they recited, "We are the spectacularly awesome, super-duper, unbeatable, invincible, ass-kicking pupils of Brawly!"

The brown haired man said, "Fighter Guy Ken!"

The blue haired woman followed, "Fighter Girl Yuri!"

The bald man followed up, "Fighter Guy Ryu!"

Lastly, the green haired woman introduced herself, "Fighter Girl Neko!"

Together, they then said, "Together, we are the Fighting Four! Bow down to out supreme awesomeness!"

Ash, May and Max stared at them blankly and dully, occasionally blinking every now and then. There was an eerie silence as the Fight Four stood there in the same pose with grins, eagerly awaiting the inevitable 'bow'.

"Sis, I'm scared…"

"Me too…"

Ash cleared his throat loudly, "So, which one of you will I be facing?"

The Fighting Four stood up straight and coughed nervously, "Why, all of us of course!" Fighter Girl Yuri said. Ash looked at them incredulously.

"Isn't that a bit unfair?" he asked them.

"Yes, but you have to rise up and prove your manliness!" Fighter Boy Ken declared dramatically whilst pointing at Ash, "How many Pokemon do you have?"

"Four."

"That's perfect!" the Fighting Four suddenly yelled, making everyone jump in surprise.

"It shall be a four on four BRAWL!" Fighter Boy Ryu shouted.

"YEAH!"

"Hey wait a minute, this is so unfair!" May interjected, "There's no way all four of you are the gym leader. I thought only one person could be the gym leader!"

"Well, we were going to have a little tournament of strength, speed, guts determination, soul, heart and spirit but we decided that would take too long," Ken shrugged, "So, we unanimously decided that we all of us will be the gym leader."

"That's still unfair!" May insisted, "Flip a coin or something, I don't care, but somehow decide which one of you Ash will face. Four on one is just too much."

"She's right," Max added, "This has got to breach some type of Pokemon League rule!"

"Fine, we shall level with you," Neko said, "But before we tell you what it is, you must agree!"

"Fine, I agree!" Ash exclaimed determinedly.

"YOSH!" The fighting four exclaimed.

"These guys are freaks…," Max muttered.

"You can say that again."

"We shall issue you four tests," Yuri explained, "If you pass all four of them, you will earn a gym badge. However, if you fail all four of them then you will face all four of use in an all out BRAWL!"

"YEAH!"

"Fine, bring it on!" Ash said confidently.

"Good, now come this way!"

The fighting four led Ash to a room with many pieces of gym equipment in it. There were weights, weight machines, benches, medicine balls, treadmills, rowing machine; there was practically everything a gym should and can have in one place. Ken stepped forward and led Ash to a weight bench. Ash eyed it, having a slight suspicion on what he might have to do.

"I will issue you your first test!" Ken exclaimed, "You must bench 250 Pounds! 50 times!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ash exclaimed. He could barely bench 100 Pounds. 250 Pounds is way too much!

"Failure in taking on the test will result in failure!" Ken exclaimed. Ash, May and Max gave him an odd look. Ash sighed. He had no choice; he at least had to try. He took of his hat and jumper and handed them to May. He then un-tucked his shirt and positioned himself under the weight. He was thankful that he could keep his gloves on. The extra grip would be handy.

He gripped the steel bar and made sure he was comfortable and had a firm grip on the bar. He then lifted it up off of the rack and immediately felt the weight; he almost dropped it on his neck. With extreme amounts of effort, he lifted it and then pulled it back down. He repeated another four times and found himself unable to lift it again. He gritted his teeth and he put all of his effort and strength into it but alas, he couldn't.

"I can't do it!" he called out, signalling for Ken to take the weight off of him and place it back on the rack. Ash breathed a sigh of relief as he sat up, rubbing his now sore arms.

"You did five reps… YOU FAIL!" Ken yelled in Ash's face, "Onto the next test!"

"It's my test next!" Neko said. She led Ash to an cleared area with a skipping rope on the floor, "You must do a one hundred skips with the skipping rope.!"

"That doesn't sound too bad…"

"In under thirty seconds!"

"…," Ash said nothing, he just took the rope and began to skip as fast as he could. He was doing well. He got up to seventy nine with fifteen seconds to go but he… tripped on the rope and fell flat on his face.

"Oh no, you fell over. That means… YOU FAIL!" Neko yelled. Ash groaned as he picked himself up.

"The next test is mine!" Ryu said as he led a tired Ash to an obstacle course. There were tires, nets, make shift walls; it looked something straight out of the army, "This is a test of speed! You must complete the course in under ten seconds!"

"This is so unfair…," he muttered as he got in position.

"You can do it Ash!" May cheered.

"Yeah, go Ash!" Max cheered as well. Ryu readied a stop watch.

"GO!" he shouted, pressing the start button on the stop watch. Ash set off, hopping in and out of tires before sprinting towards a net. He started to crawl under in as fast as he could. Once that was finished, there was a five foot wall he had to climb over. He climbed as quick as he could and made it over the wall. He then stumbled over the finish line, "Your time was… 10.2 seconds… YOU FAILED!"

Ash is now practically unmoving on the floor, sweating a lot and panting heavily. He put all of his remaining effort into that last test and lost out by .3 of a second. Yuri approached him, and knelt down.

"Your final test is too…," she trailed off. Ash was thinking she was going to say something like 'do one thousand sit ups' or something like that. To his surprise, she said nothing of the sort, "It to stand up straight."

Ash first sat up. Even that took a considerable amount of energy. He then rose to one knee, before finally starting to stand up. As he got to his feet, he lost his balance and fell over. It's not going his way…

"Oh I'm sorry but… YOU FAILED! THAT MAKES FOUR FAILS!" Yuri yelled.

"Poor Ash…," May said, "That was really harsh."

"I swear there's some law against this," Max commented, folding his arms in thought.

"You failed all four of our tests," Yuri said, looking down at Ash, "That means you must face all four of us in an all out BRAWL!"

"YEAH!"

Yuri continued, "But because we're nice people, we're going to give you thirty minutes rest before so."

Ash managed to drag himself to one of the seats surrounding the battle field and flopped down in it. His arms and legs ached and he was tired. He wasn't in any condition to battle four people at once.

"You know, Ash, you can always come back another time when the real gym leader is here," May suggested, "It'll be fairer that way."

"What's the point? I've come this far already," Ash panted out.

"I hate to say it, but you haven't really made any progress," Max pointed, "May's right; you're not in any condition to battle."

"I'm going to battle," Ash said stubbornly, "If I win, it'd be worth it."

May sighed, "You're so stubborn."

Half an hour was over and it was time for Ash to step out onto the battle field. He stood at one end in the designated trainer's box. The Fighting Four stood at the other end, each one with their arms folded and eyes closed in concentration. Ash had recovered quite a bit, but was still a little tired.

"Okay, here are the rules," Yuri started, sounding a lot more calm than before, "We will use one Pokemon each while you use all four of yours. The first team to knock out all of the other's will be declared the winner."

"Got it," Ash said. Pikachu jumped off of his shoulder and stood ready. Ash called out his remaining three Pokemon; Tailow, who looked a bit tired, Treecko and Mightyena. They all looked at Ash confusedly, "You'll be fighting at the same time this time round. Are you ready?"

All of them voiced their affirmatives. The Fighting Four called out their Pokemon. Ken called his out first. It was very big, a couple of feet taller than Ash, and had humongous hands and legs. It was yellow and orange in colour with bits of brown and blue here and there. Ash examined it in his Pokedex.

"**Hariyama: the Arm Thrust Pokemon. Hariyama practices its straight arm slaps in any number of locations. One hit of this Pokemon's straight am, open-handed punches can snap telephone poles in half." **

Yuri called out hers next. It was humanoid shaped and skinny. It had grey skin and large red legs. Ash examined it in his Pokedex as well, **"Medicham: the Meditate Pokemon. It is said that through meditation, Medicham heightens energy inside its body and sharpens its sixth sense. This Pokemon hides its presence by merging itself with fields and mountains." **

Ryu was up next. His Pokemon was tall legged amphibian with a swirl patter on its front.May examined it this time, **"Poliwrath: the Tadpole Pokemon. Poliwrath's highly developed, brawny muscles never grow fatigued, however much it exercises. It is so tirelessly strong, this Pokemon can swim back and forth across the Pacific Ocean without effort." **

Finally, Neko called out her Pokemon. It was a rather big headed Pokemon, brown and blue in colour, and it stood on a point on top of its head. It also had a spiky tail, **"Hitmontop: the Handstand Pokemon. Hitmontop spins on its head at high speeds, all the while delivering kicks. This technique is a remarkable mix of offence and defence at the same time. This Pokemon travels faster spinning than it does walking." **

"Those are some really tough Pokemon," Max commented from the sidelines, "I don't think Ash will be winning this one."

"We should still cheer him on though," May said.

Ash looked at each Pokemon, each one of them as tough as the other. All of them were fighting types, so Tailow had the advantage. One was also a water type, meaning Pikachu and Treecko had an advantage as well. Mightyena was at a severe disadvantage though, but the dark type won't give up without a fight.

"The challenger may have the first move," Ken said. Ash nodded and thought about his attack. The only way he could win this is if all of Pokemon attack at the same time otherwise his Pokemon would easily be outnumbered.

"Pikachu, Mightyena, both of you use Iron Tail!" Ash called. Pikachu's and Mightyena's tails glowed metallic silver as they charged in. They both jumped into the air as they went to hit Poliwrath an Medicham respectively.

"Medicham…"

"Poliwrath…"

"Block it with Focus Punch!" Ryu and Yuri ordered at the same time. Both fighting types met the Iron Tail attacks with a glowing fist. Pikachu and Mightyena landed on their feet and both had to avoid a follow up Focus Punch.

"Tailow, use Wing Attack!" Ash ordered Tailow, "Treecko, use Quick Attack!"

Tailow charged in with a glowing wing and aimed to hit Hariyama. Treecko charged in at high speeds and tried to body check Hitmontop.

"Use Arm Trust!" Ken called. Hariyama thrust one of its large arms out and it hit swatted Tailow away with no real effort. Tailow managed to stay flying but was already feeling the effects.

"Rapid Spin, Hitmontop!" Neko countered. Treecko body checked Hitmontop whilst it was spinning at high speed on its head. Treecko was sent flying backwards.

"Hariyama, use Arm Thrust!"

"Medicham, Focus Punch!"

"Poliwrath, use Ice Beam!"

"Hitmontop, Triple Kick!"

Each Pokemon charged in with their respective attack. Ash ordered his Pokemon to dodge the incoming the Ice Beam but Mightyena was hit with Focus Punch, Treecko with Triple Kick and Tailow with Arm Thrust.

"Pikachu, use Thunder!" Ash called out, almost desperately. Pikachu unleashed the massive charge and shocked every single fighting type. They all endured the shock but received some heavy damage. Ash's other three Pokemon managed to stand up. It was time for a counter attack.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt! Treecko, use Absorb! Mightyena, use Take Down! Tailow, use Wing Attack!" Ash ordered.

Firstly, Pikachu unleashed the Thunderbolt and managed to shock both Poliwrath and Hitmontop, stunning them both. Tailow and Mightyena sped in as Treecko whipped out with an Absorb attack that hit Poliwrath. Some of Poliwrath's energy was sucked and Treecko looked a bit fresher. Poliwrath was looking fairly exhausted, though.

"Stop them with Psychic!" Yuri called. Medicham's eyes glowed purple as Tailow was surrounded by a blue aura. Mightyena, however, was not affected and continued on charging. It hit Medicham with a brutal Take Down attack, but was wide open to a Triple Kick from Hitmontop. Mightyena couldn't take the super effective attack and fainted.

Tailow, however, managed to break free of the Psychic attack and hit Poliwrath with a Wing Attack, knocking the water-fighting-type out as well. From out of nowhere, Medicham hit Tailow with an Ice Punch, knocking out the resilient flying type.

"Pikachu, use Double Edge!" Ash called out quickly. Pikachu charged in with a yellow aura surrounding it and body checked Medicham, knocking out the fighting-psychic type. It was now two on two as both sides recalled their fallen Pokemon.

Wasting no time, Ken called out his next move, "Go Hariyama, use Knock Off!"

"Use Rapid Spin, Hitmontop!" Neko called.

"Use Thunderbolt Pikachu! Treecko, use Pound!"

Pikachu sent out the electric attack but Hitmontop stood in the way and dispelled it using its Rapid Spin. Hitmontop then went on to crash into Treecko. The grass type couldn't continue. Pikachu was then hit by Hariyama's enormous hand. It was all too much. Ash had lost.

* * *

After the chaotic battle in Dewford gym, Ash had left his Pokemon at the Pokemon centre and the trio were now spending some time relaxing on the beach. Ash was sore all over and was extremely angry with the way that gym battle went. He put his Pokemon in unnecessary harm by pitting them against four very strong fighting types like that. May and Max felt sympathetic towards him, for they both knew that it was unfair the second Ash stopped through the gym doors.

He didn't know what to do now. He could re-challenge the gym at a later time and hope that the gym leader was back, but that would mean he would be running away from the people who beat him. Another option was to train and then have a rematch, but that would risk missing May's first Pokemon contest in Slateport City; which started in a week's time.

The Kanto native decided to leave Dewford Town, go to Slateport City and hopefully, one day, come back and win a gym badge here.

* * *

That concludes chapter twelve and Dewford Island… for now. I was very pleased about how the way this chapter came out. Things are starting to go quite smoothly now.

As everyone has noticed, Brawly was not in this chapter. I decided to try something different this time round with the Fighting Four and their tests. On that note, I'd be willing to use the Fighting Four again some time in the future.

So what about Ash's second gym badge? Well, that's a secret.

Next chapter is the first movie chapter, otherwise known as Jirachi Wish Maker. It may be in two parts, depending on the size, or it might be an extended chapter. It could be a while before it's updated though, since my school work is starting to really pick up.


	13. Jirachi: Wish Maker Part One

The night was clam and silent. Above the rocky terrain of the Hoenn region, the full moon shone brilliantly; dimly illuminating the sky and clouds around it. It was mildly cool; certainly colder than the day but not enough to warrant the use of jackets. The sky was cloudy yet it was clear enough to see numerous glowing stars. It was certainly a pleasant night, one that could be enjoyed by many. Amongst those many were three travellers, who went by the names of Ash, May and Max. One month into their travels around the Hoenn region, the young group were on there way to Slateport City for May's first Pokemon Contest. However, that would have to wait for another day as the group have found out about something very interesting.

The trio find themselves walking up a steep hill that overlooked a rather barren and dry area, several square kilometres in size. Each one of them looked up at the night sky as they walked, as if they were in anxious for something spectacular to happen. Their anticipation was clearly evident on their young faces. For good reason, as well, as something spectacular was going to happen tonight.

The Millennium Comet, appropriately named as it only appears every thousand years, will appear tomorrow night. To see something that you'd be lucky enough to even see during your lifetime; something that not everyone will ever see was something you wouldn't pass up. When the information reached the ears of the travellers, they almost immediately dropped everything and went out of their way to see this comet. The trio went off course of their usual route just to go to the best sight to see it; according to some friendly locals.

"I wonder when the comet will appear," May said in wonder. She was almost afraid that she'd blink and miss it.

"It isn't set to appear for another day, sis," Max said as he walked past her, his eyes fixated on the ground rather than the sky. He was confident in the information. There was no need for him to get a neck ache from looking up for too long.

"Hmm… you never know when it will appear," May said as she, too, looked in front of her rather than at the sky.

Walking somewhat ahead of the other two was Ash, the self-selected and perhaps unconsciously nominated leader of the little group of travellers. He was barely able to contain his excitement about seeing the Millennium Comet. It would be a welcome addition to the rather long list of spectacular sights he has seen; some that, like with the comet, not everyone will see in their entire lifetime.

Ash looked back at the two and said, "How lucky are we to be able to see it? I can't wait until it appears!"

"Well, you're going to have to," Max pointed out smartly, "Isn't there supposed to be a carnival around here? I don't hear anything that sounds remotely like one."

"Apparently, there is," Ash said, "If it's not here today then surely it'll be here tomorrow."

"Hey, I'll race ya' to the top of the hill!" May announced as she took off running, "Last one there is a Slowpoke!"

"Hey that's not fair, you got a head start!" Max exclaimed as he ran to catch up.

"Wait for me, guys!" Ash said. He jogged to catch up to them. In a matter of seconds, the trio were at the top of the hill. As they looked down, it was blatantly obvious that there was no carnival. There were no sounds, no lights, no animation; there was practically no life down their on the desolate and dry ground a fair few feet below them. Their disappointment was clearly displayed for the world to see. Granted, their purpose for being here was to see the comet, not enjoy the carnival but nonetheless, it would've been an enjoyable detour.

"Looks like we're too early," Max said disappointedly.

"Or we missed the comet and the carnival," May suggested, an almost panic-stricken expression stretched across her pretty face, "Imagine that! It would be terrible!"

"It would've made this little trip a waste of time, that's for sure," Max added, folding his little arms across his chest, "I don't see any reason for those old folk to lie to us though. Old people aren't that grouchy."

"Maybe they had some vendetta against teenagers and children and this was there way of exacting their revenge," May said amusedly, a bit of a laugh in her voice. Max snorted.

"That's quite the imagination," he said, "I wouldn't put it past them, though."

Ash tuned out the conversation; a skill he seemed to have picked over the past three weeks or so. With the acquisition of Max to their group, sibling arguments became as common as a wild Pidgey (to Ash anyway, since, incidentally, Pidgey are rare in the Hoenn region). He was sure he would be driven to insanity had he not learned, somehow, to ignore their bickering. Although they weren't bickering, the conversation was one he couldn't quite work out how to make an input. He thought that he could at least make something useful with the time they had and be a look out for any signs of an approaching carnival.

Time management was another skill Ash had obtained since his arrival in Hoenn, or at least partially obtained. He was the one that had to make all of the choices; when to camp, where to go, what to do, practically everything. He had to pick a suitable time on every occasion. Furthermore, being the type of energetic person he is, he prefers to not waste time standing about and to actually get to their destination fairly quickly.

If you told Ash this, say, two years ago, he would've most certainly laughed at you. Why would he need those skills when Brock was around? Well, Brock isn't here anymore. In a way, he had to be the new Brock. He knew though that he would never be like Brock. They were too different.

"Hey, I'm getting kind of hungry," Max commented as he put a hand on his rumbling stomach, "What about you May, Ashley?"

Ashley was, much to Ash's chagrin, Max's new pet name for the Kanto native. He had decided upon it somewhere along the line during their trip between Dewford Island and Slateport City Docks. It was strange, since Ashley was his full name but the fact that he didn't like that name made it all the more annoying. Ash let Max off this time, like he had many times before hand. Ash was a little hungry; he hadn't eaten for two hours after all.

"Yeah, I guess I'm a little hungry," he said.

"I'm actually starving," May said, plonking herself on the ground. How she could eat the amount she does, metabolism or not and still maintain a decent figure was beyond her family and most of her friends from home, "What's on the menu today, Ash?"

Pikachu jumped on to the ground in front of Ash, allowing the teen to shrug off his green back pack and open it. He searched through it, moving numerous items and dug deeper into it. For a small bag, there was certainly a lot of stuff packed into it. Finally, he pulled out a bag full of squished sandwiches. He flinched as he examined them; they couldn't even be called sandwiches anymore. They more like a strange, unique putting together of various materials to create some type of edible food. He showed them May and Max, who both reacted in the same way.

"From now on, one of you two is holding onto the food," Ash announced.

"I think it should be me, considering that May would just eat the whole lot without us knowing if she carried it," Max remarked smugly, "She'd eat almost anything that's edible."

"Even I have I my limits," May huffed, too hungry to even argue back Max's comments, "They are still edible, right?"

Ash, albeit hesitantly, stuck his hand into the bag and picked out a 'sandwich'. As he lifted it, bits of crust and peanut butter and jelly filling fell from it. He carefully took it out and sniffed it, making sure that the filling hadn't gone off. He then checked the bread for any mould before taking a bite. He chewed carefully, before picking up the pace and swallowing. He finished the rest of it quickly and handed the bag to May.

"They're fine," he told her. May picked on out and examined it's dilapidated figure.

"Deformed sandwiches, yummy," she commented as she bit into it. Her face turned into one of satisfaction, "They are nice, though."

She passed the bag onto Max who wasted no time in taking one out and eating it. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were his favourite, after all. He took another one out and passed the bag onto Ash, who did the same and passed the bag to May. This continued to all the sandwiches were gone. The small meal wasn't enough to fill the tummies of the hungry travellers but they would suffice, for now (roughly thirty minutes).

At half one in the morning, the trio retired to their sleeping bags in hope that the carnival was up and ready the next morning. Roughly four and a half hours later, the sound of humming could be heard from the distance. This was first picked up by Pikachu's ultra-sensitive hearing, and as a result was roused from his slumber. Curiously, he groggily walked over to the hill edge that overlooked the dry ground. He could see several vehicles of varying colours; blue, red, green – and more importantly, several lorry's carrying certain equipment in abundance. He felt he should alert his companions.

(Hey guys, wake up!) He ran up to Ash first and, using the little physical strength it had, shook his shoulder. Ash awoke after numerous attempts and the sound of lorries driving pass something met his ears. Quickly, he rose and looked over the hill and saw the vehicles or more specifically, he recognised the carnival. Being transported on the back of the lorries was what he recognised to be in a carnival; various rides, amusements and attractions. Suddenly excited, Ash woke up his two friends.

"Guys, look!" he exclaimed, shaking May's shoulder, "The carnival is here, look!"

"Ugh… wha'?" May groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She saw Ash with an excited look on his face and looked at him in sleepy confusion, "What's going on?"

"That carnival; its here!" Ash said, pointing behind him.

"Really?!" May said, getting up and running up to the hill edge. She saw what Ash and Pikachu saw and felt the same excitement, "We have to go see!"

"I know," Ash said, shaking Max's shoulder, "Come on Max wake up!"

Max had a near identical reaction to May once he saw the approaching carnival, except he was twice as excited; him finally acting like the kid he is. He urged Ash and May to follow him down to the dry land. The trek down the hill was longer than expected as it was quite steep. When they got there, they made sure to stay well out of the way of the incoming vehicles. Every vehicle parked in a specific place as their drivers started to unload their cargo.

* * *

In a four-by-four jeep that resembled one from the army; in camouflage colours of various shads of green, was a giant of a man in the driver's seat, a grin on his face. He had one hand on the wheel while his other arm was resting on the top of the seat. Sitting in one of the back seats was a considerably smaller male. He was lazily leaning against the door with his legs propped on the seat. A brim hat on his head was worn so it covered his eyes. He looked to be asleep.

"You're being unusually quiet today," the giant man said not taking his eyes of the road ahead, "Then again, you were unusually chatty the other day."

"Just shut up and drive," the teen murmured, "I'm in a 'business' mood."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," the man waved him off, the grin still on his face. He'd been with the teen for a very long time; he could practically disfigure his moods with ease without even asking, "So, are you going to stay like that the whole time or are you actually going to enjoy this little outing."

"Bah, I hate these sorts of places," the teen spat, "Too childish."

"Too bad, since we have to stick around for a while," the man said, "You may as well enjoy it."

"We have a job to do," the teen said, "Just make sure you keep following the damn magician."

It didn't take long for the whole carnival to be set up and even the process of doing so was rather spectacular. Ash, May and Max were especially in awe of how a magician set up his tent; doing it such a graceful and leisurely way. He even used his 'magical powers' to summon the tools required for doing so. By the time everything was set up, it was around nine in the morning and other people were starting to come in via a special train set up just moments ago. The Millennium Comet will be appearing tonight, so now it was time to kick back and enjoy themselves until that time.

The giant man parked his jeep a fair distance away from the magic tent. He stepped out of the vehicle revealing his full height to the world. He was easily seven feet tall and looked to weigh at least over 300 hundred pounds. He wore black boots and a pair of camouflage khaki trousers. He wore a plain t-shirt and had a pair of silver dog-tags around his neck. His head was bald and shiny. There was an ever present grin on his face.

The teen stood next to the man and was almost two feet shorter. He was wearing a pair of black dress trousers with a pair of polished black shoes. He also wore a short sleeved white dress shirt with a black tie and blazer. Covering a head of brunet hair was a black rim hat. A ponytail could be seen sticking out the back and a couple of tufts stuck out the sides and front. He lifted his head, revealing a pair of green eyes. His face was expressionless.

"Why did you dress like a member of the army?" the teen asked the man. The man gave him an incredulous look.

"Why did you dress like someone from the mafia? You look like a gangster!" he exclaimed, laughing slightly at his small (in comparison to him) companion.

"No one will ever recognise me in this get up," he smirked smugly, "The only thing that's changed about you is your clothes."

"Ah, but I have this toupee," the man laughed as he pulled out a toupee from his trouser pocket. He unravelled it and stuck it on his head. He now looked like he had spiky brown hair, "You won't believe how much this cost."

"Yeah, well, this suit's not cheap either," the 'gangster' admitted. He looked at the multi-coloured tent next to him. It had to be at least twenty feet in height and had an opening-closing roof – for some odd reason, "So this is the place, huh."

"That's what the message says," the giant said, his face suddenly turning into a serious one, "One of the 'targets' will probably be in disguise as well; a rather obvious one as well."

"If he wants to achieve his goal, he's going to have to," the suited teen commented, "So how do you wanna do this? Do you want to run in, tear the place down, take what we came for and then leg it? Or, we could wait it out and sneak about."

"As fun as the first one sounds," the man said, "It's safer to go for option number two. We can't risk—"

The teen quickly hushed him as a rather good looking blonde woman rounded the corner and eyed the two suspiciously, especially the bigger of the odd duo. Finally, she asked, "Is there a reason why you're hanging around our tent?"

The two looked at each other, silently thinking the other's thoughts. The teen then said, "Well, I was wandering… you don't need any help for the show tonight, do you?"

* * *

The trio of travellers (Ash, May and Max) were sat somewhere near the top of the tent in the bleachers. The place was filled with people of varying ages, though the main audience were children young and old (as in, children of an older age but not quite teenagers) for it was The Great Butler's Magic Show. Ash, May and Max sat there with various snacks and refreshments; popcorn, an ice lolly and a soda respectively.

The lights suddenly shot off as a spot light shone on the highly polished stage at one end of the tent. Standing in the middle of that spotlight was a lilac hair man with light blue eyes. He wore a very fancy and posh white suit with tails and broaches. His hands were gloved with white gloves. Smiling at the crowd, the man took off his white top hat and waved his wand, a medium-long black stick with silver ends, over it. Several blue birds with fluffy white wings (otherwise known as Swablu) flew out of the hat and out of the top opening the tent had. The crowd applauded. Some were already amazed at the magic shown.

Two people dressed in clown suits ran onto stage, together wheeling a cart with a eight-sided box-net on it. The man placed his top hat on it and tapped it with his wand. The hat rose and a green and white Pokemon known as Kirlia stood there, the hat on top of its head. The man took his hat back and handed it to an assistant Mightyena. The lilac haired magician waved his wand over Kirlia for a moment before rising it up, somehow causing the box-net to rise up and encase the Pokemon. The magician tugged at both ends of his wand and it suddenly turned into a large crimson cloth. He covered the box with the cloth. The crowd were wandering what he was going to do next. The magician made another wand materialise out of nothing; this one had a flame at the end of it though. The crowd gasped in surprise as he proceeded to set the cloth alight; did he just set his own Pokemon on fire?

They waited on in anticipation as the cloth slowly burned away. Before it could fully burn away, it exploded in a puff of purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, they saw a beautiful blond haired woman in a frilly red dress standing on top of the cart, holding a strange shaped rock in the air. The rock glowed a strange aura that covered the whole crowd; who looked on in awe and wonderment. They suddenly erupted in applause and whistling. That was fantastic!

'_The stars… are calling me…'_ Max jumped at the sudden strange voice. He looked around to see if anyone was talking to him. All he saw was people clapping and cheering.

The lilac haired magician helped the woman down from the cart. Both of them faced the crowd, waiting for the applause to die down. Once it did, the man said, "Thank you for coming to the Great Butler's Magic Show! I am the Great Butler!"

The man bowed to the crowd. He then presented the woman, "And this is my lovely assistant, Diane!"

Diane curtsied to the crowd as they applauded again. Butler then pointed to Mightyena, "And these are my Pokemon assistants: Mightyena, - Mightyena placed the hat on the ground and Kirlia suddenly rose up from underneath it. The Pokemon threw it onto Mightyena's head -, and Kirlia!"

'_I hear the voice of the stars…' _Max heard in his head again, prompting him to look around again, "Voice of the stars?" he murmured, looking up at the ceiling. He was suddenly drawn to the strange rock that was being held by Diane. It was producing a fainter light than before. He stood up and asked himself, "Who is that?"

'_I'm… Jirachi…' _the voice, presumably, introduced. Max was confused, "Jirachi?" What was a Jirachi? Acting on impulse, he ran down the stairs and towards the stage. Reacting the fastest, Ash handed a surprised May his popcorn as he ran after him, calling his name.

"What's wrong, little boy?" Diane asked him nicely, albeit confusedly.

"A voice… I heard a voice!" Max said, staring at the rock. Butler and Diane look at eachother, surprised. Butler than smirked and nodded at Diane.

"I'm sorry!" Ash yelled as he ran onto the stage. When he got close, he said, "I'm sorry for interfering in the show!" He then grabbed Max's shoulder, "Come on Max let's get back."

Max looked at the rock, albeit solemnly, "But…"

"Good timing!" Butler suddenly shouted to the crowd. Ash and Max looked at him with confused expressions, "These boys and a Pikachu have come on stage for us!" He placed his hands on their shoulders and announced, "Let's get them to help us with the next magic trick!"

Diane asked them with a smile, "Could we have your names please?"

"My name's Ash," the Kanto native said slowly.

"I'm Max…," Max said hesitantly.

"Let's start!" Butler exclaimed as two clowns wheeled a strange box onto the stage. The Great Butler said, "Ash, Max and Pikachu; would you get into this box?"

The clowns opened the box as Butler explained, "You three will have to escape from here!"

"Escape?" Ash said confusedly. He wasn't sure what was going on exactly. One second he's chasing Max the next he's in a magic show? This was turning out to be a strange experience.

"Come on, please?" Diane said to them, pleading for them to get into the box. Max turned his attention back to the rock.

"Was that voice earlier done with magic?" he asked Diane. She couldn't answer since the two clowns had ushered the two into the box.

In the stands, May groaned in her seat. She muttered to herself, "This is so unfair! I wanted to be in the magic show as well!" Sure, it was caused out of circumstance but it would've been a nice experience. She wished she had sat next to Max and not Ash…

Ash and Max sat down in the box as the clowns closed it. Outside, Butler cried, "Dusclops, come on down!"

A bulky Pokemon that looked like it was made of lumpy rock slowly waddled out from behind the curtain. It had one red eye and two large white hands. It also had two white tassels sticking out of the back of its head.

"When I count to ten, Dusclops here will blow this box into smithereens with its Hyper Beam," Butler explained to the audience, "Ash, Max and Pikachu will have to escape from the box before then. Count with me; one!"

The crowd shouted the numbers out as well. May sat there, eating handful after handful of popcorn out of nervousness. They weren't seriously planning on blowing up her little brother and friend, were they? Part of her was now celebrating the fact that she wasn't there, though the experience would have been very exciting.

Inside the box, Ash and Max looked around, "I wonder how we get out?" Ash asked.

"There has to be some trick to it," Max said absent-mindedly, "But that voice…"

Back outside, Butler was finishing his count, "…eight… nine… ten! Dusclops, use Hyper Beam!"

Out of its one eye, Dusclops fired a wild orange beam of energy. The beam collided with the box, creating an explosion. Instead of human parts and blood that some of the crowd expected to scatter everywhere, there were many bouquets of flowers. The crowd were confused and amazed at the same time; where were Ash, Max and Pikachu? May was the one who wanted to know the most; searching around for any sign of them.

"It looks like the escape was successful!" Butler exclaimed presenting the remains of the box that had no trace of anyone even being there, "The bouquets are a gift from me! Please remember tonight's show and come back again!"

Several members of the audience leapt up to grab a bouquet, though some remained worried as to the whereabouts of the helpers from earlier. Butler decided to end the suspense.

"Now let's meet the boys who helped out at tonight's show!" he said. A spotlight shone on top of a flight of stairs. Standing there were Ash, Max and Pikachu.

"Um… escape successful!" Ash said, going along with it. The crowd erupted in applause and cheer. May breathed a sigh of relief. She watched as Ash and Max made their way back to the stage, enjoying the applause they were receiving. But one thing was still unanswered in Max's mind.

It took a few minutes for the audience to leave the show. Butler asked for Ash and Max (and May, of course) to stay behind. They all gathered on the stage as Butler prepared to answer the question that has been on Max's mind for a while now. Unbeknownst to them, they weren't the only one's listening in on the conversation.

"They say that the Pokemon, Jirachi, awakens every millennium and can grant wishes," Butler started.

"Jirachi?" Ash questioned obviously not knowing what a Jirachi was.

"Yes, it is a legendary Pokemon that is only active for seven days every thousand years," Butler explained, "Right now, it's sleeping in here."

Butler showed them the rock. Max caught on, "That means the voice in my head was a Pokemon…"

Butler nodded, "This Pokemon is only active for the seven days the Millennium Comet is visible. Legend has it that it chooses a kind young boy to be its partner, to protect it, during that time."

"Wait, so Max is the chosen partner?" May asked in surprise.

"The seven days of the Millennium Comet… they being tonight, don't they?" Ash asked. Butler nodded.

"Yes, Max is the partner that Jirachi needs to awaken," Butler said, "Max; will you be Jirachi's partner?"

Max was awed. He looked at the rock, wandering to himself why he was chosen but considered himself incredibly fortunate. Any experience with Pokemon felt so good to him, but this one would be out of this world. He nodded ecstatically to Butler, "Sure, I'll do it!"

"Thank you, Max," Butler said as he handed Max the rock carefully. Ash and May crowded round him to see it close up. It was strange, yet beautiful at the same time. The Great Butler smirked at them slightly, whilst Diane looked at Butler sadly; a strange feeling welling up within her. The next seven days were certainly going to be an eventful…

* * *

"Wow, wasn't that magic show amazing, Alex?!" a seven foot man exclaimed to a teen.

"Why are you obsessing over a crappy magic show?" the teen, 'Alex', asked. The man shrugged his large shoulders.

"I don't know! The carnival always brings out this weird side in me," he said, stroking his chin in thought. Alex sighed.

"Yes, the carnival certainly does bring out the weird side in people," he said, "I mean, look; I'm dressed up like a clown, you – a 40 year old man – is all giddy over a magic show and that man over there is stalking those three kids."

Like he said, Alex was dressed up in a yellow and orange clown suit. He had jester's hat, a red rubber nose and face paint. He scowled in disgust as he took the hat off of his head and threw it on the ground. He took off his rubber nose and then threw it on the ground as well. He ran his fingers through his blond hair; blond hair that had brown tips.

"Careful with those; you have to wear them again tomorrow," the man said, "You played the part really well though, Alexander."

"Screw you Tiny," Alexander said simply, "You saw the target, didn't you?"

"I sure did," Tiny said proudly, "Just as I predicted, he was dressed up as a clown."

"I wonder what he's after… Jirachi, maybe?" Alexander mused. Tiny shrugged.

"Maybe, but we'll need to snoop around a bit more before making up theories."

* * *

'_So… he wants to use Jirachi for something, but what?' _Mused a silver haired man as he walked through the carnival, keeping his eyes on a certain group of travellers. He had attended the magic show and had eavesdropped on a post conversation; not merely because he was nosy (granted, he wanted to find out desperately) but because he had suspicions based upon earlier sightings. His fascination of rocks alike had led him here, chasing down a particularly strange one rumoured to house a legendary Pokemon.

'_He mentioned revenge… I wonder…' _The man eyed the group as the girl purchased a peculiar wishing device, shaped strangely like a dream catcher with seven flaps. His attention was on the boy with the rock, though. He was curious; desperate to study it and find out what particular purpose it could serve that man.

"Excuse me sir, but, why do you keep staring at us?" a brunette girl suddenly asked him. He snapped out his thoughts and looked down at the girl dressed in red, '_Damn it, I've been spotted. Oh well, better come clean.'_

"I was interested in that rock that young boy is carrying," he answered.

"You were?" the boy asked him, holding the rock close to his chest.

"Yes, you see, my name is Steven Stone; former Champion of the Elite Four," Steven said, a smirk crossing his face at the group's surprised faces, "I study rocks nowadays, and I was curious in the one that you're carrying. Do you mind if I see it?"

Max hesitated before saying, "…No."

Steven was a little stunned. He expected that his rank, or former rank, was enough to persuade them otherwise, _'I guess I'm not much of an authority figure anymore.'_

"That's fine, I suppose," Steven said with a smile, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

That being said, Steven walked off, leaving behind a confused group of kids. He heard them say, "What a strange man… oh well, the comet will appear soon! Let's go find a good place where we can see it!"

The silver haired researcher waited until they were a good distance away before following them. He weren't about to give up so easily.

* * *

Ash, May and Max had found a nice little place just outside of the carnival sight. Ash and Max sat on the floor while May perched herself on a large boulder embedded into the ground. They waited in silence for the comet to appear. They noticed the sky getting cloudy and hoped that they didn't prevent them from seeing the comet.

May noticed that Max had fallen asleep cuddling the rock. With a soft smile, she sat down next to him and stroked his head. She started to hum a soft tune. Ash smiled at the scene of affection. May briefly stopped to sit back on the rock.

"That was a lullaby mother always used to sing to us," she told Ash. She then proceeded to hum the rest of the song.

"Hey, look!" Ash interrupted, pointing up at the sky. May stopped humming and looked up to see the clouds moving away. In the space they left behind was a shining streak, barely identifiable but was there. It looked like any there comet, but the fact that you could only see it every 1000 years made it all the more special. May pulled out her new wish maker and held up so that the comet met up with the centre of it. She then proceeded to fold down a flap with one star on it; representing day one of the comet.

The rock Max was cuddling suddenly to glow luminously, temporarily blinding Ash and May. The light was enough to rouse Max, who backed away from the rock slightly.

"The stars are calling!" a voice suddenly exclaimed as the rock rose into the air by itself. The light continued to get brighter as the rock slowly started to change shape. It seemed like an eternity before the light died down. In the place of the rock was a very small Pokemon with a silver body and yellow, star shaped head. It was humanoid in shape and had little flaps underneath its arms; almost as if it was wearing some sort of robe. It slowly descended towards the ground. Max caught it and cradled it in his arms.

"This is… Jirachi?" he asked, seemingly to no one.

"Wow, it's so cute!" May cooed, peering over Max's shoulder.

"Hey there Jirachi, my name's Max," the kid said slowly, still in a sate of wonderment.

"Max…?" Jirachi said slowly, using its telepathic powers. Max nodded, a smile creeping onto his face.

"Hey, my name's Ash," Ash said, "Nice to meet you."

Pikachu also introduced itself from Ash's shoulder. May then introduced herself as well. Jirachi said each name slowly, testing the sound of them. It was like a new born baby learning to speak for the first time. In a way, Jirachi still was a baby though it was arguably many thousands of years old.

Naturally, the bright light had attracted some people, namely Diane and Butler. Max showed them Jirachi, a gleeful look on his face. Butler smiled and invited them to stay in his van, or trailer, depending on how you look at it. He informed them Jirachi had the power to grant people wishes. Max decided to put it to the test.

"I wish… for lots of candy!" Max told it.

"Candy?" Jirachi asked. Nothing happened for a while.

"Ah, it's impossible for something to grant wishes!" Max said smugly. May looked at him dully.

"You were the one who was the most excited…," she remarked. Max sweated nervously.

"Hey Max, what's that in your lap?" Ash asked, pointed to an object in Max's lap. Max picked it up.

"It's a bag of potato chips!" he exclaimed. Jirachi started to float about the room.

"Candy, candy!" it repeated as numerous forms of candy appeared out of nowhere and dropped to the floor. In a matter of moments, the whole van was filled with candy; chocolate, sweet, crisps, everything! There was so much candy that the back doors of the van opened, causing everyone and everything to spill out on the ground. Max and Jirachi were the first to rise to surface, laughing all the way. Ash resurfaced next, looking at the pile in disbelief.

"What's going on here?!" Diane exclaimed as she and Butler made their way to the pile.

"I wished for candy and I got some!" Max told them. Diane picked up a bit and recognised it immediately.

"This is from the candy shop in the carnival," she told Butler. The magician nodded.

"Yes, you see, Jirachi has the power to teleport things," he informed the group.

Not too far away, Steven was again eavesdropping. He was taking any information he could find and was slowly piecing things together. Whatever purpose that Jirachi could serve the man he saw a few days ago would soon be clear to him. He just needed more information.

Steven wasn't the only one eavesdropping. Alexander and Tiny were also listening in, for they had a similar purpose to Steven's. They too had heard of a man wanting revenge and were also wandering how Jirachi could be used to obtain that. But they were one step ahead of Steven. They knew one extra piece of information that he didn't. But alas, there was still some pieces left missing from the puzzle.

* * *

Part one of Jirachi: Wish Maker… complete!

I have a few things to say about this chapter. Firstly, I initially intended to have it all as one extended chapter but I thought better of it for a number of reasons. Firstly, I write within a 6,000 word limit with a tolerance of about 300 words either side. I never thought it would take 6,000 words for Jirachi to awaken; it takes around 20 minutes in the film. So if you were to go by that logic, this movie chapter is only approximately a third complete. I never expected this to be so long. If I have to, I will make it 3 parts.

My second reason is because of the readers. With all the events that will be commencing in this movie special, I think I break is necessary some where. It'd probably be a bit too taxing for people to read a potentially 12,000 word chapter with lots of stuff going on. Someone would lose it some where.

Thirdly, this chapter was all about build up to the main event. All the build up in one chapter and the main events in the next seems like a good method to me.

This chapter had no action at all in it, actually. I hope it wasn't boring at all. I did try to put in some comic relief just to make things a tad more interesting.

Okay, I'm going to stop blabbing and get to work on part two. Please take some time out to review, thank you!


	14. Jirachi: Wish Maker Part Two

Wow, it seems like forever since I've updated even though it's only been like two or three weeks! Here is, at long last, part two of Jirachi: Wish Maker. I hope you enjoy it. See you at the bottom!

* * *

On the morning of the second day of the Millennium Comet things started off as any other day. Max and Jirachi stuck close to each other as the group gouged down their breakfast. With six days left until Jirachi returns to its thousand year long sleep, the group were stuck on what to do until that time. With little ideas, Diane requested them to help out with their magic show.

This was how Ash ended up in an orange and white striped clown costume that morning. The costume had an exuberant blue collar with green balls hanging off eight different ends. He wore an orange hat with a green ball hanging off the top as well. Ash's face was painted at least three different colours; red, green and blue. Finally, completing the look was a red rubber nose.

When May saw him, she laughed. She didn't laugh out of spite but out of humour for Ash looked hilariously funny in that outfit. This was obviously a good thing as people were meant to laugh at clowns.

"You should look like that all the time, it's an improvement," May teased.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Ash laughed sarcastically. Diane smiled.

"She's right, you look good in it," she said. She brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face and walked into an opening in the tent, "Anyway, come with me and meet the other assistant that's here."

"Okay," Ash said, not knowing that there was another clown assistant, _'It must be one of the clowns from yesterday's show.' _

"And May, could you bring in the equipment?" she asked the girl. The brunette nodded.

"Sure thing," she nodded.

"Thank you," Diane thanked. She pointed to a load of boxes, crates and trolleys holding numerous objects. May's face dropped, "Be careful though, some of it's heavy."

That said; Ash and Diane walked into the tent. May sighed.

"Ah…, thanks for the warning…," she muttered, getting straight to work by lifting, or attempting to lift, a crate that had God only knows what in it. It was a typical wooden crate with a strange logo on the top; May assumed it to be the logo of the Great Butler but she couldn't help but notice how similar it looked to her wish maker charm that she purchased the night before. Setting that thought aside for now, she put all of her energy into lifting the box. The Hoenn native somehow managed to lift it up to torso level but the weight made her stumble. She only just about managed to stay on her feet. May sighed, "I'm just not built for this sort of stuff."

With a determined effort, she walked with the crate and placed it in the allocated area in the tent. She wiped a bit of sweat that had already formed off of her brow. Grudgingly, she walked back to the pile of equipment. She examined the row of boxes, annoyed that they are even out there in the first place.

"Why are they even out here anyway?!" she asked no one in particularly, "I mean, surely, it would make more sense for this stuff to stay in the tent!"

"It's for security reasons, little lady," a gruff voice startled her. She whirled around and cam face to face with a white t-shirt. After staring at it in surprise for a good few seconds, she slowly started to carne her neck higher. Looking down at her was a bald head and incredibly white grin full of pearly white teeth. May gulped.

"S-security reasons?" she repeated nervously. It's scary enough being the presence of an incredibly big man but it's even scarier being practically right up against him; they were as close as you could get without touching. The man's shadow completely engulfed her petite frame.

Seeing the girl's nervousness, the man stepped back to give her some room to breath. He chuckled as she breathed a sigh of relief and created some more distance between them. He didn't blame her, after all, there were only two people he weren't frightened of him. He continued his explanation, "A tent isn't exactly the best place to store a lot of valuable and expensive equipment; just about anyone could rip open a hole, walk in and steal some. So, at the end of every show they move the equipment out of the tent and into special storage areas."

"Oh, I see," May said in understanding, "That makes sense."

"It sure does," the man said, "But what doesn't make sense is the fact that they made you carry this stuff in and not that boy… wouldn't you much rather be the clown?"

"…," May hesitated as she was thinking about the question, "I guess so… but I really don't want to be a clown; I don't want to look like an idiot."

The man chuckled heartedly. It was humorous that a girl would care more about their physical appearance than their own physical well being, _'Oh well, it's their life I guess.' _

"Well, I'll help you out," the giant man said, "You don't want to break anything, do you?"

"No, not at all," May said, smiling, "Thanks for helping me."

"Sure, don't worry about it," the man said, easily picking up two crates with each hand and walking into the tent. May stared in shock over the display of strength, "I make a living out of doing stuff like this."

"I see…"

Within the Magic Show tent Diane was leading Ash to the main area behind the stage. When they arrived there, Ash saw a clown around his age and height leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and a rather sour look on his face. His eyes were glaring at presumably nothing as h is extra large red hat drooped over his face. His outfit was identical to Ash's in design; the same strange collar and balls sticking off of them. The only difference was that his was red and white and not orange and white. Tufts of blond hair could be seen sticking from underneath the hat. He looked at Ash and Diane with indifference before turning back to glare at nothing.

"Ash, this is Alexander," Diane introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Ash said in courtesy as he outstretched his hand for it to be shook. Alexander did nothing; just continued glaring into nothingness.

"Hm?" Alexander seemingly snapped out of his trance. He saw the confused face of Ash and the concerned face of Diane. Alexander shook his head a couple of times before shaking Ash's hand, "Yeah… nice to meet you."

"Are you okay, Alexander?" Diane finally asked. The clown slowly nodded his head in the affirmative. There was a bit of awkwardness. Alexander cleared his throat loudly and span on his heel.

"I'm gonna go help set the stage up," he informed as he walked in that general direction. Ash looked at Diane inquiringly.

"Is he really okay?" he asked her. Diane shook her head.

"I really don't know," she admitted. The blonde woman then shrugged, putting the thought aside for the moment, "Anyway, why don't you go help Alexander? The first show doesn't start for another two hours."

"Fine, I'll do that."

The last show of that day finished at around dusk. Backstage, May was wheeling a tall piece of metal scaffolding to a specific place where it could be taken out of the ten and stored securely. The brunette was rather fed up of having to do all the taxing jobs. She was so fed up that she just casually wheeled the scaffolding along, not putting any effort into it at all. She was pushing the thing along with her arms while she leant her head on her left hand. Unknown to her, there was an obstacle in her path.

The scaffolding suddenly ran over a thick piece of timber. The metal framed structure jerked upwards and started to lean sideways. May cursed, "Oh, crap!" She ran to the other side to catch it before it fell. The structure was heavy and May's small arms struggled to hold up the weight.

"Max, help!" she yelled to Max who had been looking at a large mirror, Jirachi hovering around his head like some annoying fly. Max glanced over. Seeing his sister in trouble, he hastily ran over in her aid. Jirachi followed after him, declaring that it wanted to play with Max more.

"Come on Max, let's play!" the Pokemon said with its tone almost whining. Max strained as he answered; the weight was quickly overpowering him.

"Not right now!" he told it. But Jirachi would have none of that. It wanted to play. It couldn't see any reason why it couldn't. The Legendary Pokemon flew over and pinched Max's glasses from his face, much to his surprise.

"I got them! I got them!" the Pokemon declared as it flew away. Not thinking about May, Max left to chase after Jirachi. The brunette girl didn't anticipate the additional weight; she couldn't hold it up anymore. She sidestepped out of the way of the tumbling frame before she got crushed. The scaffolding crashed to the floor with a resounding clang. May breathed a sigh of relief.

Max chased Jirachi all around the room and eventually caught it by the mirror, "I got'cha!" he said as took his specs back and placed them on his face. He began to tickle Jirachi as 'punishment'. The little Pokemon giggled childishly.

The small boy suddenly felt an eerie presence behind him; the type of feeling one would get when they 'sensed' something bad was going to happen. Slowly, Max turned on the spot. Drowning out Jirachi's laughter and May's protests from earlier, Max stared into the highly polished surface of the mirror. A cracking noise then echoed throughout the area. There was silence afterwards. The sound of rushing wind could be heard. Max looked at the source. There was a rip in the tent. Something was telling Max to move. Acting purely on instinct, Max moved away from the mirror. A split second afterward, the glass burst. Fragments were scattered everywhere. Max looked up fearfully. Standing where the mirror once stood, growling violently, was a creature with a frightening appearance. Its red eyes glowed eerily as its majestic white fur coat glistened in the late afternoon sun. Its body was black, as was the strange protrusion on the top of its head. Slowly, the protrusion started to glow white. With a mighty swing of its head, a visible white wave rippled through the air and collided with some lights. The lights exploded mildly.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" a man shouted as he ran unto the scene. It was the same giant from before. He surveyed the area. He saw May, the girl from earlier, staring frightfully at something. He saw Max, the girls little brother, staring frightfully at the same thing. He looked at as well. The creature glared at the man. The strange protrusion started to glow again. The man tensed, "Shit… hey, we have a problem over here!"

The creature unleashed a white wave. The giant rolled out of the way. The ripple sliced through a red curtain that the stage was behind. The man had no time to gawk as the creature charged at him. He rolled out of the way again. The creature skidded onto the stage.

"What's going on?!" May exclaimed. She walked up to Max who was scared stiff, "Max? You okay?"

"Yeah…," Max slowly nodded. He then looked down at the Pokemon clutched tightly in his grasp, "What about you, Jirachi?"

"Absol… has come to take me home..," it said bewilderedly. Max and May looked at it confusedly.

"Absol? Is that what that creature is?" Max asked, "And what's this about taking you home?"

"Uh oh… it's coming back!" the man abruptly screamed. Reacting the quickest, May pulled Max out of the way of the charging Absol. The white furred creature tackled the side of the tent; the sickle like protrusion creating a large gash in the tent's side.

"Phew, that was close," May said relieved as she clutched Max close to her, "I think we should get out of here, Max."

"Don't move!" the man suddenly ordered. May froze on the spot, "That thing will go after you if you make any sudden movements. Stay absolutely still and let me handle this."

May nodded, holding on to Max tighter; scared in case he made any sudden movements, "Where's Ash and the others?"

"I think he and Alexander are getting changed," the man said, "Not sure where the woman and that Butler guy are."

The Absol snarled and began to charge up the same wave like attack from earlier. The giant man smirked and braced himself. He taunted, "Come on then beasty. Show me what you got!"

Absol needed no extra incentive as it swung its head down hard. The man once again rolled away from the blast. Absol charged at him. The man side stepped and tackled the beast to the ground. Absol and the man wrestled on the ground for a while before Absol somehow through the giant off of it. It then unleashed the attack from the sickle. The man had to go to ground in order to avoid being sliced in half. The blast created another rip in the tent.

"Hey missy!" he called out to May, "Do you have any Pokemon?!"

May looked back at him, "Yeah, I do!"

"Any good ones?"

"…Yeah, I think so," May answered meekly. She then snapped out of it; this wasn't the time to be thinking like that! She said more confidently, "Yeah, they're good!"

"Then use them!" the man yelled as he avoided another charge from Absol. May frantically searched through her fanny pack and just about picked out a Pokeball without dropping it in her haste. She threw it out into the fray.

"Torchic, we need your help!" she called as the energetic fire type appeared. She looked at Absol and, for once, stood up determinedly to it, "Use Ember!"

Torchic opened its beak and rapidly fired multiple small fireballs. Absol anticipated the attack and blocked it with the protrusion on its head. Torchic hesitantly tried again, but was met with the same result. Absol growled at Torchic, shattering its confidence and scaring it to death.

The giant man took this opportunity to tackle Absol to the ground again. He called out to May and Max, "Run, now!"

"Come on, Max!" May said as she grabbed Max's arm and started to drag the boy along with her.

"Don't hurt… Absol," Jirachi suddenly spoke. Max looked at it strangely. Before he could ask something, May announced something.

"Look, its Ash!" she said as she ran out onto the stage. She halted in front of him. The boy was dressed in his regular clothes. He gave her an odd look.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"What _is _going on?" Alexander dressed in his 'gangster' suit repeated. Butler and Diane, who were standing next to Alexander, also looked at May questioningly.

"This Pokemon just appeared out of nowhere and started to attack us!" May explained quickly, "It's being held off by—"

"Oh crap, that ain't good!"

"--… never mind."

"Heads up!" the man yelled at the small group. Absol was charging at them, seemingly aiming for Butler, at full speed with malice in its eyes.

"Whoa, beasty!" Alexander exclaimed as he moved to the side, along with Ash, May, Max, Butler and Diane. The Absol skidded on the highly polished stage floor.

"What is that?" Ash asked bracing himself for whatever the Pokemon will do next.

"That's an Absol, a Pokemon said to only appear when disaster is about to strike," Butler explained. He cast a brief look at Jirachi, "It's here for something…"

"Like what?" Ash asked. Butler shook his head.

"Don't worry about that," he said, "Focus on the Absol."

Ash nodded as Pikachu jumped from his shoulder and onto the stage in front of him. Sparks flew from the electric-types cheeks in anticipation. Ash saw that it was ready to fight, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu shocked Absol with the massive charge. The angry Pokemon easily shook off the charge and ran towards Pikachu quickly, lowering its head in order to ram the electric type.

"Try using Iron Tail!" Ash decided. If attacks like Thunderbolt won't work, then maybe some hard physical attacks would. Heeding his command, Pikachu jumped high into the air, successfully dodging Absol's attack. Pikachu charged up energy in his tail, making it glow silver. With a mid-air twist, Pikachu swung his tail down hard on Absol's head. The white and black Pokemon, instead of falling to the ground in pain, suddenly turned sharply and hit Pikachu with its own Iron Tail attack. Pikachu flew through the air and straight into Ash's arms. The rodent quickly jumped out and back into a battle stance.

"Nothing's working!" Ash said frustratingly. Alexander stood at his side.

"No, something is working," he told him, examining Absol, "There isn't a single Pokemon that can withstand two attacks like that. This Absol is just making it seem like he's not in pain but in reality, he's in a world full of it."

Ash nodded to himself. He then told his first Pokemon, "Okay Pikachu, just one more big attack!"

"That won't be necessary," Butler said calmly, stepping out in front of Ash. He held up his walking stick. Everyone looked at him curiously. He taunted Absol, willing it to charge at him. The angry Pokemon did so. Butler smirked and used his thumb to flick open the silver tip atop his walking stick. A red button was revealed. His pressed down on the button with his thumb. Suddenly, a door opened up in the floor. Unawares, Absol ran straight into it. Butler dusted his hands off, "A magician always has a trapdoor handy."

A cage then appeared on the surface. Absol was imprisoned as it rammed the bars in an attempt to escape. Butler walked up to the cage. Absol growled at him.

"And now, for the finishing touches," Butler said, opening up a Pokeball. His Kirlia appeared in front of him, "Kirlia, Hypnosis!"

Kirlia's green eyes started to glow red. Absol looked straight into them. The strong Pokemon suddenly felt drowsy. After swaying a bit in the cage, it collapsed onto its side.

"Well, that was easy," Alexander commented, "I wonder where Tiny is?"

"I'm here," Tiny said, his giant frame stumbling over to the group. His clothes were ripped partly and he was covered with a few cuts. He grinned at everyone, "A little beaten up, but I'm fine nonetheless."

Alexander smirked, "Even though you lost," he said. Tiny shrugged. Alexander then addressed Butler, "So, care to explain why this Absol was attacking us?"

"Absol… came to take me back to Faunz," Jirachi spoke up from Max's grasp. Max looked at him Jirachi with concern.

"Jirachi, where's Faunz?" Max asked. Jirachi looked up at him. It didn't answer straight away. Everyone waited expectantly for a good minute.

"…Home," Jirachi finally answered.

"You're home?" Max asked quietly.

"I'm… sleepy," Jirachi said quietly. It closed its eyes and entered into slumber.

"Faunz, eh? You don't think--?" Alexander muttered to Tiny discreetly.

"It's possible," Tiny whispered back, "Shall I tell her?"

"Not right now," Alexander answered, "Let's see what happens."

The evening of day three was a very clear and mild night. The day before hand was nothing different; the group consisting of Ash, May and Max assisted Diane and Butler with their magic show and enjoyed some time around the carnival themselves. Max and Jirachi spent a lot of time together rather than with Ash and May. The bond between the young boy and the Pokemon was growing stronger with each passing day. For May, it was an incredibly adorable and happy sight. Jirachi was like Max's little brother; someone who Max could play with and entertain all he wants.

Mysteriously, Alexander and Tiny didn't show up at all today. May pondered if they were at the hospital considering that Tiny came out of last night's 'scuffle' with more than enough cuts and gashes, not to mention a couple of bruises here and there. She assumed that Alexander was his friend, so naturally she just assumed that Tiny was getting checked out at the hospital along with Alexander keeping him company and that today was just a day off. May suspected they would be back tomorrow.

On top of that, Steven Stone had made a surprise appearance at tonight's show and although May wasn't the sharpest of people, nor did she hardly ever play close attention to many things, the brunette rookie trainer noticed how edgy, for lack of a better word, Steven looked throughout the show. May was sitting with the audience having done her backstage 'chores' and was curious about Steven's appearance. Throughout the whole show, Steven was looking from side to side, up to down, twiddling his thumbs and moving his feet in an impatient manner. It looked like he was expecting something to happen, but the brunette couldn't quite figure out what exactly.

May closed the third flap down on her wish maker charm and held it close to her. She didn't know if her wish would come true, but she really hoped that it would, or at least something similar would happen. Looking back on it, she noticed how her journey so far has had more downs then ups. Now, it seemed like she, along with Ash and now Max, were travelling in constant danger with not one, but _three_ crime organisations lurking about not to mention the incredible amount of bad luck they have (like the trek through Petalburg Forest, for example). Hopefully, she thought, they would have some good luck and she hoped it started with her first contest.

Looking down from the small hill top at the van they were staying in, May saw The Great Butler, as he likes to call himself, exiting said vehicle with a bundle in his arms. Curiously, May adjusted herself so she could more clearly; the angle of vision was preventing her from seeing the man in full.

"I wonder what Butler is doing," she mused out loud. Squinting her eyes, she could see that the bundle in the man's hands was none other than a certain yellow and silver Pokemon. Realisation dawned upon her, "That's Jirachi!"

Hurriedly, she leapt off of the rock she was relaxing on and carefully ran down the side of the hill; though it was small, it was steep and a little bit slippery. Quickly, she rounded the corner of the van and threw open the door to the back of it; she didn't care about the noise, the more people she awoke the better. Leaping up the tiny three-stair stairwell she entered the temporary sleeping quarters of the vehicle. There were two bench-like seats on either side of the van. On the one closest to her was Max, sleeping peacefully and completely oblivious to the fact that his sleeping companion was missing. On the one farthest to her was Ash, sprawled out across the sea and snoring quietly. She couldn't see Diane anywhere. She decided that the next best thing for this situation would be Ash; she didn't want Max to start panicking.

Putting her hands on his shoulder, she shook Ash in an attempt to rouse him, "Come on Ash wake up!"

Ash murmured something in his sleep but merely stayed in the land of dreams. May shook him again, but to no avail. She sighed exasperatedly. Ash was out like a light, so it would take some drastic measures to wake him up. Taking a deep breath and moving closer to his ear, May screamed, "Ash, wake up! We have a problem!!"

Ash snorted as he shot up with a horrible ringing in his ears. He groaned tiredly as he rubbed his sore ear. He glared at a proud looking May. His sleep was disturbed and he was no where near happy about it.

"May, what's wrong with you!" he exclaimed, "Man, I was having such a nice dream as well."

"Well, that dream can wait!" May responded, "We have a problem that needs solving!"

"This better be worth waking me up for," Ash muttered. With a sigh, he asked her, "Okay, what's the problem?"

"Jirachi has been stolen by Butler!" May explained. She expected the Kanto native to suddenly leap out of bed and put his sweatshirt and hat on before rushing into action, but the teen looked at her oddly and with a small amount of annoyance.

"Come on May, Butler's not going to harm Jirachi," Ash reasoned, "For all we know, Butler could've asked Max to borrow Jirachi fro something."

Frustrated, May said, "I just have this strange feeling that something bad is going to happen. Beside, why would Butler want to borrow Jirachi?"

"I don't know," Ash said, shrugging his shoulders, "A magic show?"

"At this time of night?"

"Okay, maybe not a magic show but maybe his working on a performance that involves Jirachi in some way," Ash theorised, "I'm sure he's not doing anything harmful."

Unexpectedly, May grabbed Ash by the arm and pulled him out of bed with surprising strength. Ash landed awkwardly on the floor with a resounding thump echoing throughout the van. Next to him, Max stirred but only turned over and stayed asleep.

"What was that for?!" he asked agitatedly. May leered down at him.

"For not cooperating!" she said, "Now come on, let's check this out. It's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

Ash stared at her for a moment. He knew May was stubborn, but never thought she was this stubborn and persistent enough to literally drag him out of bed over a conspiracy theory! May had a stern look on her face. Knowing better than to anger women, Ash sighed as he stood up.

"Fine, we'll go see what he's up to," Ash surrendered, "Just let me get ready."

On stage, Butler confidently walked forward with his trusty magic stick in hand. A wide smirk was etched across his face. In front of him was a strange machine. There were two large components with a protrusion sticking out of the side. The protrusion of each machine faced eachother. In-between the two components was a small platform, or table-like component. Lying atop of it was none other than Jirachi, peacefully asleep.

Butler opened the tip of his stick and pressed a red button. Before him, two mechanical tongs raised from the floor. Butler reached into his jacket and took out a glass tube. Floating within the blue liquid residing in the tube was a small fragment of rock. He held the tube horizontally between the two tongs. The tongs suddenly moved and attached themselves to the tube, holding it in place.

"Soon, my plan will come to fruition," he said boomingly, "My long awaited revenge will be exacted, at long last!"

With an almost manic gleam in his eyes, Butler pressed the button on his stick again. The machine started to whir. Two purple beams shot from the protrusions of each component and as they met in the middle, a strange force field was created. This field suspended Jirachi in mid air. The legendary Pokemon struggled against the force, squirming about. It was painful for it.

"Now Jirachi, open your true eye and absorb the energy of the Millennium Comet!" he demanded.

"N-never!" Jirachi yelled out. It refused to be some type of tool for this man. Butler didn't frown and was not surprised with the answer.

"Well, if you won't open it," he started. He opened up a Pokeball and his Dusclops appeared beside him, "then I'll jus have to force it open myself. Dusclops, Psychic!"

Dusclop's one eye glowed an eerie blue, almost purple. The same coloured aura surrounded Jirachi. Dusclops started to slowly move its unattached hands about. With its mind, it focused on opening Jirachi's true. The Wish Pokemon struggled all it could and tried its hardest not to succumb to the attack. Being incapacitated by the force field restricted Jirachi greatly, but the little Pokemon somehow managed to keep fighting.

A small distance away, hiding round a corner, were three men. The smallest one, garbed in a fancy black suit and brim hat, scowled at the sight before him. Next to him, a giant man dressed as an army member cracked his knuckles.

"I think it's time we intervened," he said.

"Yes, I think so too," the smaller one replied. He then turned to the other man, a silver haired man in a purple suit, "And you, Mr. Stone? Will you be assisting us?"

'Stone' nodded and held a Pokeball tightly in his hand, "As a former member of the Hoenn Elite Four, it is still my job to protect the peace. I will continue to uphold that vow I made."

The suit wearing teen nodded. He then said to the large man, "Tiny, I want you to use Skarmory as a distraction. I know you want to crack that guy around the face – I can't blame you for wanting to, but it's best if you distract him for now. The objective is to retrieve Jirachi, not create any unnecessary casualties. Understood?"

"Yeah, yeah, got it," Tiny grumbled. He really wanted to punch that guy…

"Steven, if you don't mind, could you take out that Dusclops? I know I can't order you around, but for my plan to work I'm going to need you to as I say, at least for now," the teen said. Steven nodded.

"It's fine by me," he said, his face serious, "Am I right in assuming that you are the one who is going to get Jirachi?"

"You would be," the teen said, "Okay guys, let's do this!"

"Right, come on Skarmory!" Tiny yelled as his trusty steel-flying type appeared. Tiny mounted the bird as it hovered above the ground, "Let's go!"

Skarmory flew Tiny over the stage. The steel-flying type screeched loudly, resulting in Butler spinning around and Dusclop's concentration to waver slightly. Skarmory swooped down close to Butler, sweeping him off of his feet. Butler growled.

"Grr… Dusclops use Willow-wisp on that nuisance!" he ordered. Dusclops turned around and created a blue ball of fire between its hands. It then threw the ball as hard as it could. Skarmory, however, easily evaded the attack in the air. Tiny laughed loudly and grinned.

"Oh come on you one eyed freak, you can do better than that!" he taunted. Dusclops was angered. It charged up another Willow-wisp and threw it, along with several others. Tiny grinned.

"Skarmory, Air Slash!" he ordered confidently. Skarmory shrieked as it flapped its steel plated wings quickly, creating several cutting waves of air. The waves easily sliced through the fireballs and rained down on Dusclops. Suddenly, a purple aura consumed Dusclops. The ghost-type was then thrown into the air and into the audience seating. Butler looked towards the backstage curtain and saw Steven along with a massive four legged Pokemon. It was blue in colour and silver plating here and there. It was like a four legged spider.

"Nice work, Metagross," Steven complimented. Steven then called back at the curtain, "Now's your chance, Alexander!"

The suited teen, otherwise known as Alexander, charged out from behind the curtain and sprinted straight for Butler. Surprisingly, the teen leaped over the man's head. Butler whipped around but was met with a straight kick into the gut courtesy of Alexander. Temporarily winded, Butler couldn't protect himself from Alexander's low leg-sweep. Butler fell to the floor on his back. For good measure, Alexander drove his fist right into Butler's private area, causing him to scream in pain and suddenly curl up into a ball. Steven and Tiny flinched as they unconsciously covered up that specific area. This would be the one time where they would feel sympathetic towards the man…

Alexander calmly walked up to Jirachi with a ghost of a smile on his young face. He reached out to grab the Pokemon, but his arm was forcibly stopped by a strange aura. Alexander gritted his teeth as he tried to fight it, but the force was too great. Alexander was then thrown away. He skidded along the polished stage surface and stopped beside Steven.

"Darn, that Dusclops is still going," Steven cursed, "Quick, Metagross, we must stop it before it opens Jirachi's eye!"

Steven hopped onto Metagross as it started to literally fly towards Dusclops. But they were too late as Dusclops used its remaining strength to finally open Jirachi's third and true eye…

The resulting collision of forces created an immense explosion. Everyone in the room was flung back by the sheer force. Even Metagross was taken off of its feet. Luckily, Steven was quick enough to return Metagross to its Pokeball before it crushed somebody. Tiny returned Skarmory as he held his ground.

As the explosion died, a voice could be heard shouting over the commotion, "What's going on in here?!"

The voice belonged to Ash as he, May, Max and Diane came running onto the scene. They all gasped at the sigh before them. The stage had nearly been completely obliterated. Pieces of machinery lie scattered everywhere, as well as four men. Max noticed a completely beat up and worn out Jirachi lying in a small crater. His eyes widening, he rushed over and picked the poor the Pokemon up.

"Jirachi, what happened to you?" Max asked the Pokemon, clearly upset. He then glared at Butler. He yelled, "What did you to do Jirachi!?"

"What amazing power…," Butler muttered amazed, seemingly ignoring Max for the moment.

"Hey, where's Absol?" Ash asked. May and Diane looked around and saw no sign of the strong dark-type Pokemon, "Wasn't he being kept here?"

"Absol has been taking away by a certain group of thugs," Butler suddenly spoke up, not turning around to face Ash and the others. Butler walked towards Max. The boy cowered slightly as the man had a manic gleam. He clutched Jirachi tightly to him, "Hand over Jirachi."

"No! I won't let you hurt Jirachi again!" Max said bravely. Butler snarled at the boy.

"Hand him over if you don't want to get hurt!" he demanded. Max stepped back, in fear of what the man might do.

"Max!" May exclaimed. Anger soon washed over her, "Hey, leave my little bother alone!"

Butler ignored her and reached out to take Jirachi from Max. Max inched back as Butler came close.

"Butler, please stop!" Diane yelled an upset look clearly on her face. This seemed to grab Butler's attention.

"Diane?" he questioned as he turned around.

"Butler, I don't want you to do this anymore," she said emotionally.

"Diane… I thought you off all people would understand!" he said angrily. He moved his am back, seemingly to hit her, but Tiny had other ideas. Butler was hit straight in the jar but Tiny's gigantic fist. Butler soared through the air and landed on the floor heavily. Diane gasped. Tiny grinned and punched his hand with the same fist.

"Now that felt good!" he exclaimed. He walked over and picked Butler up by the collar. He held him up in the air, "Hey buddy! You don't go around trying to hit women and scaring little kids! What kind of man are you? You're pathetic!"

Butler struggled in the giant man's grasp. He would respond but his jaw was sore, possible broken, by Tiny's strike. All Butler did was growl lowly at a grinning Tiny.

As this was going on, May tended to a frightened Max. She put her hands on his shoulder as she met face to face, "You okay Max? Everything is going to be fine now."

"I'm fine, don't worry May," Max answered, still clutching Jirachi tightly to his grasp.

"I'm glad," May said in relief.

Diane stood there, recovering from the shock of Butler attempting to strike her in anger. She just could not bring herself to help him anymore, not even with the way she felt about him. With courage, she made her decision. She would have to make sure Jirachi is safe and in order to do so, she must take Jirachi home.

"Everyone, follow me!" she called out. She started to run out of the area.

"Come on May, Max!" Ash called as he turned on his heel to run as well. May and Max, still clutching Jirachi, ran after him. Steven soon followed. Alexander got up and started to run. He called out to Tiny.

"Hey Tiny, drop that looser and follow us!"

Tiny dropped Butler to the ground without a care in the world. He ran over to the group who were scurrying into the van. Butler picked himself up and took out a strange device from his pocket. Calling out his Mightyena, he gave the device to it. Mightyena charged after the van and before it could leave, placed the device on the back bumper.

"It won't be long now…," Butler said darkly.

In the van, Diane was driving while Ash, May and Max sat in the passenger seats behind her. Behind the trio were Alexander, Tiny and Steven. There was silence. Soon, Ash asked a question.

"Diane, what was Butler trying to do back there?" This question piqued the interest of the three behind him.

Diane hesitated for the moment. She decided she should tell them, considering how she has dragged them into this mess. Slowly, she started, "Butler was trying to get Jirachi to absorb the Millennium Comet's amazing energy. He planned on using it to create his own Groudon and exacting his revenge on the people who denied him and betrayed him."

"What's a Groudon?" May asked this time. Everyone was listening intently, especially Alexander and Tiny.

"Groudon is said to be God like Pokemon that can create land mass," Diane explained, "It's an ancient Pokemon, said to still be alive even after thousands of years."

"How can Jirachi absorb the energy?" Max asked quietly, concerned about his 'little brother'.

"Jirachi has what is called his true eye. Every thousand years, Jirachi absorbs the energy from the comet and expels it throughout the entire planet, creating natural beauty everywhere," Diane explained, "But Butler sought for Jirachi for a different purpose. The energy from the comet is enough to resurrect Groudon from the small piece of fossil he has."

"Ah yes, I remember now," Steven said. Everyone's eyes focused on him, except Diane of course but she was listening intently, "I was studying the rock formations at Faunz until I overheard someone talking about revenge. That someone was Butler, if I recall. I followed him back to the carnival, wondering what he could possibly do with a strange rock like the one he had found. I had no idea it was Jirachi until I saw it with my own eyes. I suspected that Butler may be up to something that could possible have drastic effects on the world. As a former member of the Elite Four, I had to uphold my vow of protecting the peace. This meant I had to get the rock away from Butler somehow. I didn't expect him to give it to Max, though."

"So that's why you want the rock two days ago," May realised, "You wanted to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands."

Steven nodded, "That's exactly it. Once I had obtained the rock, I was going to return it to Faunz but _someone else _entered into the equation."

Steven purposefully looked at Alexander and Tiny. He continued, "To me, these two seemed suspicious. I noticed how they were hovering extremely close to the magic show tent and once overheard them talking about a mission of some sort. I knew I had to keep my eye out on these two. Earlier on, when we were going to attack Butler, I confirmed that you were interested in Jirachi as well."

"Your assumption is correct, but we are not interested in Jirachi in the way you are thinking," Alexander answered. He folded his arms across his chest, "We have the same goal as you do; make sure Jirachi doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Yet these hands aren't Butler's."

Steven nodded, "It has something to do with that other assistant, right?"

"You mean Grey?" Diane said, remembering the assistant, "He was here for the first day, claiming he needed work. I didn't suspect he was involved in all this."

Unnoticed by the others, Alexander's fist clenched. He continued, "The guy's a spy for Team Magma."

This was met by silence. Ash, May and Max processed the information and was shocked that Team Magma was involved in all of this as well. Ash asked the question on everybody's minds, "What have Team Magma got to do with this?"

"Team Magma is the same team that Butler wants revenge on," Diane answered. This was also met by surprise, "Butler went to Team Magma with an idea; he thought he could create a Groudon for them. But his experiment failed, and Butler left both humiliated and angry. He was banished from Team Magma."

"So Team Magma wants a Groudon?" May asked, "Why?"

"Nobody knows for sure," Tiny shrugged, "But we suspect that it has something to do with the land."

"We're heading for Faunz, right?" Max asked Diane. The blonde woman nodded.

"Yes, we are returning Jirachi to its home," Diane said.

"And delivering it straight into the hands of Team Magma," Steven said in realisation.

"What do you mean?" Max asked. Alexander picked up where Steven left off.

He said, "They have been one step ahead of us from the start. Team Magma will be a t Faunz, and they will be after Jirachi."

So, that ends part two. This chapter breached 7,200 words at the whole Jirachi: Wish Maker part of this story is still not finished. Imagine if I decided to make this one big chapter? It might have 20,000 words long! Anyway, I think I can safely say that the next chapter will wrap Jirachi: Wish Maker up.

Okay then, please take some time out to review. I'm off school for a week so I should be able to get Chapter 15 done quite soon if my focus does not get divided again.

See you and have a nice morning/day/night!


End file.
